JP2017088084A - Steering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering device configured so that work for laying on a boss part wiring from a functional device to be mounted thereon can be performed extremely easily and a control circuit for the functional device can be built in the boss part.SOLUTION: A steering device 1 comprises a flexible printed board 30 which is connected to a functional device 55 to be mounted on the steering device 1. The flexible printed board 30 has: control portions 41-45 including control circuits corresponding to the functional device 55; wiring portions 51-54 including wiring patterns 51A-54A which electrically connect the functional device 55 to the control circuits of the control portions 41-45; and a connection portion for electrically connecting the control circuits of the control portions 41-45 to a connector near a vehicle body. The control portions 42-44 of the flexible printed board 30 are stored in storage spaces formed among boss outer peripheral walls 24 and inner walls 62-64 of a lower cover.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering apparatus, and more particularly to a steering apparatus in which one or more functional devices are mounted.

  In recent years, various additional functions have been demanded of automobiles, and various functional devices have been mounted on a steering apparatus for steering a vehicle, and the number of functions has been increased. For example, various switches and sensors are provided on the spokes and rims of the steering device to enable operations and settings for car navigation systems, audio systems, driving support systems, etc. It is possible to display the above, or to provide a heater on the rim portion to enable heating of the grip portion (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). These functional devices such as switches and sensors need to be connected to the vehicle body side with wiring cables in order to supply power and transmit signals.

  These wiring cables are connected to the vehicle body side through the boss portion of the steering device. An air bag device is arranged on this boss portion, and these wiring cables do not hinder the operation of the air bag device. Need to be placed. Therefore, it is necessary to route the wiring cable in a limited space, and there is a problem that it is difficult to lay the wiring cable. In particular, when the number of wiring cables increases as the number of functions of the steering device increases, it becomes more difficult to lay the wiring cables.

  Further, it is preferable that not only the wiring cable for the functional device but also the control circuit for the functional device is built in the boss portion. However, as described above, the boss portion has a limited space. It is difficult at present to incorporate a simple control circuit in the boss portion.

JP 2010-241203 A JP 2007-317393 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and the work of laying the wiring from the functional device to be mounted on the boss portion is extremely simple, and a control circuit for the functional device is provided. It aims at providing the steering device which can be incorporated in a boss | hub part.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steering apparatus in which a work for laying a wiring from a functional device to be mounted on a boss portion is extremely simple and a control circuit for the functional device can be incorporated in the boss portion. Provided. The steering device includes a boss portion located at the center, a rim portion that is gripped by the driver, and a spoke portion that extends outward from the boss portion toward the rim portion. The boss part and the spoke part include an upper cover arranged on the driver side and a lower cover arranged on the steering shaft side. The steering apparatus includes a flexible printed circuit board connected to one or more functional devices mounted on the steering apparatus. The lower cover includes a boss outer peripheral wall that defines the boss portion, and an inner side wall that extends along the boss outer peripheral wall inside the boss outer peripheral wall and forms an accommodation space between the boss outer peripheral wall and the boss outer peripheral wall. ing. The flexible printed circuit board includes a control unit including a control circuit corresponding to the functional device, a wiring unit including a wiring pattern for electrically connecting the functional device and the control circuit of the control unit, and control of the control unit. And a connection portion for electrically connecting the circuit to a connector provided on the vehicle body side. The control unit is accommodated in the accommodation space.

  According to the present invention, the wiring for the functional device mounted on the steering device is formed on the flexible printed circuit board, and since this flexible printed circuit board is thin and flexible, the outer peripheral wall of the boss of the lower cover The wiring can be laid on the boss portion of the steering device without hindering the operation of the airbag device. Further, even when a plurality of functional devices are mounted on the steering device, it is only necessary to handle one flexible printed board in the boss portion, so that the wiring laying operation becomes extremely simple.

  Furthermore, an inner wall extending opposite to the boss outer peripheral wall is formed on the inner side of the boss outer peripheral wall of the lower cover, and a housing space is formed between the boss outer peripheral wall and the inner side wall. Can be accommodated in this accommodation space. Therefore, not only the wiring for the functional device but also the control circuit for the functional device can be incorporated in the flexible printed board, and the control circuit for the functional device can be incorporated in the boss portion.

  In the present specification, “inside of the outer peripheral wall of the boss” means that it is closer to the center of the boss part than the outer peripheral wall of the boss. This means that it is located away from the center of the part.

  In addition to the control unit of the flexible printed circuit board, the wiring unit may be accommodated in the accommodation space. By doing in this way, the laying work on the boss part of the flexible printed board is completed simply by inserting the control part and the wiring part of the flexible printed board into the accommodation space, so the laying work of the flexible printed board is extremely simple. become.

  In this case, it is preferable that a protrusion protruding toward the wiring portion is formed along the boss outer peripheral wall on the inner wall and the boss outer peripheral wall facing the wiring portion of the flexible printed board. In this way, by forming the protrusions protruding toward the wiring part along the boss outer peripheral wall on the inner wall and the boss outer peripheral wall, the wiring part can be firmly held by the protrusion, and the wiring part is accommodated in the accommodation space. Can be prevented from falling off easily.

  Moreover, it is preferable to further include a shielding layer disposed between the boss outer peripheral wall and the control unit and between the inner wall and the control unit. By providing such a shielding layer, the influence of external noise on the control unit of the flexible printed circuit board can be reduced.

  The control part of the flexible printed circuit board may have a hook part that engages with the lower cover. Such a hook part can prevent the control part accommodated in the accommodation space from jumping out of the accommodation space.

  Further, the lower cover is a protrusion that extends outward from the inner wall, and the protrusion that restricts the movement of the control unit accommodated in the accommodation space along the outer peripheral wall of the boss. Furthermore, it is preferable to include. In addition to or instead of this, the lower cover is a protruding portion extending inward from the outer peripheral wall of the boss, and the control unit accommodated in the accommodating space extends along the outer peripheral wall of the boss. It is preferable to include a protrusion that restricts movement in the selected direction. Such protrusions restrict the movement of the control unit accommodated in the accommodation space in the direction along the outer peripheral wall of the boss, so that the flexible printed board can be stably held in the accommodation space.

  According to the present invention, the wiring for the functional device mounted on the steering device is formed on the flexible printed circuit board, and since this flexible printed circuit board is thin and flexible, the outer peripheral wall of the boss of the lower cover The wiring can be laid on the boss portion of the steering device without hindering the operation of the airbag device. Further, even when a plurality of functional devices are mounted on the steering device, it is only necessary to handle one flexible printed board in the steering device, so that the wiring laying operation becomes extremely simple.

  Furthermore, an inner wall extending opposite to the boss outer peripheral wall is formed on the inner side of the boss outer peripheral wall of the lower cover, and a housing space is formed between the boss outer peripheral wall and the inner side wall. Can be accommodated in this accommodation space. Therefore, not only the wiring for the functional device but also the control circuit for the functional device can be incorporated in the flexible printed board, and the control circuit for the functional device can be incorporated in the boss portion.

It is a mimetic diagram showing a steering device in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a state where an upper cover of the steering device of FIG. 1 is removed. It is the top view which expand | deployed the flexible printed circuit board arrange | positioned at the steering apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification of the inner wall shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification of the inner wall shown in FIG. 6, and a control part. It is a figure which shows the modification of the inner wall shown in FIG. 6, and a control part. It is the elements on larger scale which show the steering apparatus in other embodiment of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale which show the steering device in other embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a steering device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. 1 to 11, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. In addition, in FIGS. 1 to 11, the scales and dimensions of each component are exaggerated and some components may be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a steering device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the steering device 1 includes an annular rim portion 10 that is gripped by a driver during steering, a boss portion 12 disposed in the center of the rim portion 10, and the boss portion 12 toward the rim portion 10. Spoke portions 14A, 14B, 14C extending outward. The boss portion 12 and the spoke portions 14A, 14B, and 14C are configured by an upper cover 20 disposed on the driver side and a lower cover 22 (see FIG. 2) disposed on the steering shaft side. The rim portion 10 is not limited to an annular shape, and may be any shape as long as the driver can hold it.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the spokes 14 </ b> A and 14 </ b> B extending left and right from the boss part 12 are provided with a switch 16 for operating and setting a car navigation system, an audio system, a driving support system, and the like. A heater 18 for heating the rim portion 10 is embedded in the rim portion 10. Further, an airbag device 19 is attached to the back side of the upper cover 20 at the center position of the boss portion 12.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state where the upper cover 20 of the steering device 1 is removed. As shown in FIG. 2, when the upper cover 20 is removed, the lower cover 22 is exposed. A flexible printed circuit board 30 is incorporated inside the lower cover 22. 3 is a developed plan view of the flexible printed circuit board 30, and FIG. 4 is a front view thereof. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the flexible printed circuit board 30 includes control units 41 to 45 each including a control circuit (not shown), wiring units 51 to 54 extending between the control units 41 to 45, and control. And a sensor portion 55 extending from the portion 45. The control part 43 located in the center has a connection part 56 connected to a connector provided on the vehicle body side. The connection unit 56 is also connected to the control circuits of the control units 41 to 45. The sensor unit 55 is for detecting a gripping state in the rim unit 10. For example, a sensor unit 55 in which a capacitance sensor is incorporated in a flexible printed board can be used.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, wiring patterns 51 </ b> A to 54 </ b> A that are electrically connected to the control circuits in the control units 41 to 45 are formed inside the wiring units 51 to 54. Wiring patterns are also formed inside the control units 41 to 45, and electronic components constituting the control circuit are mounted on these wiring patterns. Such a flexible printed circuit board 30 is formed by forming a copper foil in a predetermined wiring pattern on a base film made of polyimide or the like, and crimping an insulating film on the copper foil, and the control units 41 to 45 are further on the base film side. After the reinforcing plates 41A to 45A are pressure-bonded, an electronic component (not shown) is mounted on the side opposite to the reinforcing plates 41A to 45A.

  Such a flexible printed circuit board 30 is electrically connected to one or more functional devices mounted on the steering apparatus 1. The functional devices in the present embodiment are a switch 16 provided in the spoke parts 14A and 14B, a heater 18 provided in the rim part 10, and a sensor part 55 built in the flexible printed board 30. The switch 16 is directly connected to the control circuits of the control unit 41 and the control unit 45 of the flexible printed circuit board 30, and the heater 18 and the sensor unit 55 are connected to the control units 42 to 51 via the wiring patterns 51 A to 54 A of the wiring units 51 to 54. 44 is connected to one of the control circuits. In the present embodiment, the sensor unit 55 is built in the flexible printed circuit board 30. However, the sensor unit 55 is provided separately from the flexible printed circuit board 30 and connected to the flexible printed circuit board 30. May be.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the lower cover 22 has a boss outer peripheral wall 24 that defines the boss portion 12. Further, inner walls 62, 63, 64 for holding the control units 42, 43, 44 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 are formed inside the boss outer peripheral wall 24 of the lower cover 22. The control part 41 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 is arranged in the spoke part 14A, and the control part 45 is arranged in the spoke part 14B. The wiring part 51 extending from the control unit 41 is bent about 90 degrees at a bent part 51B (see FIG. 3), and the wiring part 54 extending from the control part 45 is bent about 90 degrees at a bent part 54B (see FIG. 3). It has been. Thus, the control units 42, 43, 44 are accommodated between the inner side walls 62, 63, 64 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24, respectively, and the control unit 42, the wiring unit 52, the control unit 43, the wiring unit from the wiring unit 51 53, the control unit 44, and the wiring unit 54 can be arranged along the boss outer peripheral wall 24 of the lower cover 22.

  5 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner side walls 62, 63, 64 extend facing the boss outer peripheral wall 24 inside the boss outer peripheral wall 24 of the lower cover 22. As shown in FIG. 6, an accommodation space for accommodating the control unit 42 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 is formed between the boss outer peripheral wall 24 and the inner wall 62 of the lower cover 22, and control is performed in this accommodation space. The part 42 is accommodated. Similarly, storage spaces for storing the control units 43 and 44 are formed between the boss outer peripheral wall 24 and the inner side walls 63 and 64 of the lower cover 22, respectively. 44 is housed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the inner wall 62 has a protrusion 62 </ b> A that extends substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the inner wall 62 toward the outside. These protrusions 62 </ b> A are provided on both sides of the control unit 42 in the direction along the boss outer peripheral wall 24, and the control unit 42 held between the inner side wall 62 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24 is the boss outer peripheral wall 24. To move in the direction along Similarly, the inner wall 63 has a protrusion 63A extending substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the inner wall 63 toward the outside, and the inner wall 64 extends in the longitudinal direction of the inner wall 64 toward the outside. On the other hand, it has a protruding portion 64A extending substantially vertically. These protrusions 63 </ b> A and 64 </ b> A restrict the movement of the control units 43 and 44 held between the inner side walls 63 and 64 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24 in the direction along the boss outer peripheral wall 24.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, protrusions 62A, 63A, 64A extending outward from the inner wall 62 are formed, but instead of these protrusions 62A, 63A, 64A, or these protrusions 62A, In addition to 63A and 64A, a protruding portion extending inward from the boss outer peripheral wall 24 is formed, and the control portions 42 to 44 held between the inner side walls 62 to 64 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24 are formed as boss outer peripheral walls. The movement in the direction along 24 can also be restricted.

  In the present embodiment, the protrusions 62A, 63A, and 64A are provided on both sides in the direction in which the boss outer peripheral wall 24 extends with respect to the control unit 42. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, protrusions 162A, 163A, 164A extending outward from the approximate center of the inner walls 162, 163, 164 are formed, and the protrusions 162A, 163A, 164A are controlled by the control parts 42, 43. , 44 may be controlled to move the control units 42, 43, 44 in the direction along the boss outer peripheral wall 24. Also in this case, instead of these protrusions 162A, 163A, and 164A, or in addition to these protrusions 162A, 163A, and 164A, a protrusion that extends inward from the boss outer peripheral wall 24 is formed. It is also possible to restrict movement of the control units 42 to 44 held between the walls 162 to 164 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24 in the direction along the boss outer peripheral wall 24. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 42 is arranged so that the control units 42, 43, 44 do not jump out of the inner side walls 62, 63, 64 after the control units 42, 43, 44 are accommodated in the accommodation space. , 43, 44 may be provided with a hook portion 270 that engages with the lower cover 22.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, wiring for functional devices such as the switch 16, the heater 18, and the sensor unit 55 mounted on the steering device 1 is formed on the flexible printed circuit board 30. Since the flexible printed circuit board 30 is thin and flexible, the flexible printed circuit board 30 can be disposed along the boss outer peripheral wall 24 of the lower cover 22, and these wirings can be provided in the steering device 1 without obstructing the operation of the airbag device 19. Can be laid. In this way, since only one flexible printed board 30 needs to be handled in the boss portion 12 for a plurality of functional devices (the switch 16, the heater 18, and the sensor portion 55), the wiring laying operation is extremely simple. is there.

  Furthermore, inner walls 62, 63, 64 that extend opposite to the boss outer peripheral wall 24 are provided inside the boss outer peripheral wall 24 of the lower cover 22, and an accommodation space is provided between the boss outer peripheral wall 24 and the inner walls 62, 63, 64. Therefore, the control units 42, 43, 44 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 can be accommodated in the accommodation space. Therefore, by accommodating the control units 42, 43, 44 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 in this accommodation space, it becomes possible to incorporate a control circuit for the functional device in the boss portion 12.

  Here, since the control units 42, 43, 44 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 may be affected by external noise, the control units 42, 43, 44, the boss outer peripheral wall 24, and the like, as shown in FIG. It is preferable to provide a shielding layer 300 made of a metal thin film, for example, between the control portions 42, 43, 44 and the inner side walls 62, 63, 64. The shielding layer 300 may be formed on the outer surface of the control units 42, 43, 44, or may be formed on the inner side of the boss outer peripheral wall 24 and the outer side of the inner side walls 62, 63, 64. May be. In addition, it is preferable to provide the same shielding layer also about the control parts 41 and 45. FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, the inner side walls 62 to 64 are formed only in the portions corresponding to the control units 42, 43, and 44 of the flexible printed circuit board 30, but as shown in FIG. An inner wall 461 is further formed between the wall 63 and an accommodation space is formed between the inner wall 461 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24, and the wiring portion 52 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 is accommodated in the accommodation space. May be. Similarly, an inner side wall 462 is further formed between the inner side wall 63 and the inner side wall 64, and an accommodation space is formed between the inner side wall 462 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24. The wiring part 53 may be accommodated. By doing so, the laying operation on the boss portion 12 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 is completed simply by inserting the control sections 42 to 44 and the wiring sections 52 and 53 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 into the accommodation space. The mounting operation of the printed circuit board 30 becomes extremely simple. The inner side walls 461 and 462 are preferably formed so as to be continuous with the inner side walls 62, 63 and 64 as shown in FIG.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, a projection 561 that protrudes from the inner wall 461 toward the wiring portion 52 of the flexible printed board 30 is formed, and from the boss outer peripheral wall 24 toward the wiring portion 52 of the flexible printed board 30. A protruding protrusion 563 may be formed. Similarly, a protrusion 562 that protrudes from the inner wall 462 toward the wiring part 53 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 is formed, and a protrusion 564 that protrudes from the boss outer peripheral wall 24 toward the wiring part 53 of the flexible printed circuit board 30 is formed. Also good. Thus, by forming the protrusions 561, 563 or the protrusions 562, 564 protruding toward the wiring part 52 or the wiring part 53 along the boss outer peripheral wall 24, the wiring part is formed by the protrusions 561, 563 or the protrusions 562, 564. 52 or the wiring part 53 can be firmly held, and the wiring part 52 or the wiring part 53 can be prevented from easily falling off from the accommodation space.

  From the viewpoint of firmly holding the wiring portion 52, as shown in FIG. 11, the protrusions 561 protruding from the inner wall 461 and the protrusions 563 protruding from the boss outer peripheral wall 24 are alternately arranged along the boss outer peripheral wall 24. Although preferably formed, these protrusions 561, 563 are not necessarily formed alternately along the boss outer peripheral wall 24. Similarly, it is preferable that the protrusions 562 protruding from the inner wall 462 and the protrusions 564 protruding from the boss outer peripheral wall 24 are alternately formed along the boss outer peripheral wall 24, but these protrusions 562, 564 are not necessarily bosses. It is not necessary to be formed alternately along the outer peripheral wall 24.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the accommodation space is formed between the inner side walls 62 to 64 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24 by projecting the inner side walls 62 to 64 from the bottom surface of the lower cover 22 has been described. The inner walls 62 to 64 may be formed by forming the inner wall 62 to 64, and an accommodation space may be formed between the inner walls 62 to 64 and the boss outer peripheral wall 24.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that the present invention may be implemented in various forms within the scope of the technical idea.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering device 10 Rim part 12 Boss part 14A, 14B, 14C Spoke part 16 Switch 18 Heater 19 Airbag apparatus 20 Upper cover 22 Lower cover 24 Boss outer peripheral wall 30 Flexible printed circuit board 41-45 Control part 41A-45A Reinforcement board 51-54 Wiring part 51A-54A Wiring pattern 51B, 54B Bending part 55 Sensor part 56 Connection part 62-64 Inner side wall 62A-64A Protrusion part 162-164 Inner side wall 162A-164A Protrusion part 270 Hook part 300 Shielding layers 461, 462 Inner side wall 561-564 Protrusion

Claims (7)

It has a boss part located in the center, a rim part that the driver grips, and a spoke part that extends outward from the boss part toward the rim part, and the boss part and the spoke part are on the driver side. A steering device including an upper cover disposed and a lower cover disposed on a steering shaft side;
A flexible printed circuit board connected to one or more functional devices mounted on the steering device;
The lower cover is
A boss outer peripheral wall defining the boss portion;
An inner wall extending along the outer peripheral wall of the boss on the inner side of the outer peripheral wall of the boss and forming an accommodation space with the outer peripheral wall of the boss;
Have
The flexible printed circuit board is
A control unit including a control circuit corresponding to the functional device, the control unit accommodated in the accommodation space;
A wiring unit including a wiring pattern for electrically connecting the functional device and a control circuit of the control unit;
A connection part for electrically connecting the control circuit of the control part to a connector provided on the vehicle body side;
A steering apparatus comprising:   The steering device according to claim 1, wherein the wiring portion is accommodated in the accommodation space in addition to the control portion of the flexible printed circuit board.   3. A protrusion projecting toward the wiring portion is formed along the outer peripheral wall of the boss on the inner wall and the outer peripheral wall of the boss facing the wiring portion of the flexible printed circuit board. A steering device according to claim 1.   The steering according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a shielding layer disposed between the outer peripheral wall of the boss and the control unit and between the inner wall and the control unit. apparatus.   The steering device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit of the flexible printed circuit board includes a hook portion that is engaged with the lower cover.   The lower cover further includes a protrusion that extends outward from the inner wall and restricts the control part accommodated in the accommodation space from moving in a direction along the outer peripheral wall of the boss. The steering apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein   The lower cover is a protrusion that extends inwardly from the outer peripheral wall of the boss, and further includes a protrusion that restricts the control part accommodated in the accommodating space from moving in a direction along the outer peripheral wall of the boss. The steering apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

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