JP2018002085A - Steering wheel unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering wheel unit that allows a steering wheel to be folded and then carried in a safe state.SOLUTION: A lock mechanism 32 is constituted of a thick plate-like claw 36 made of metal which is mounted on an upper side of a protruding part 37 of a steering wheel piece 33 so that the claw can be pushed upward and pulled downward. The protruding part 37 of the steering wheel piece 33 is fitted into and connected to a recessed part 38 of another steering wheel piece 34. When a lock release button 35 is not pushed down, the claw 36 is being pushed out to the outside of the protruding part 37, and when the button is pushed down, a coil spring 39 is pressed in interlock with the movement of a plate-like lever 40 made of metal when the lever 40 moves downward, so that the claw 36 is pulled toward inside of the protruding part 37 by a wire 41 to be brought into a retracted state. When releasing the lock release button 35, the lever 40 is moved upward by compression force of the coil spring 39, and the claw 36 is pushed out to the outside of the protruding part 37 and then returned to an original position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering wheel unit to which a steering wheel can be attached and detached.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an electric power steering apparatus in which a steering wheel unit is detachably supported at a tip portion of a steering shaft of a vehicle, and an assist means for giving a steering assist force to the steering wheel unit and a steering force detection means are incorporated. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). Such an electric power steering apparatus can easily perform parts replacement, parts repair, etc., such as steering force detection means, and can easily perform maintenance. Further, it is considered that the detection signal of the steering force detection means incorporated in the steering wheel unit by the signal extraction means can be taken out of the steering wheel unit.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-159872

  In the electric power steering device that can be attached and detached by the driver as described above, the removed steering wheel unit may be carried. However, especially when the steering wheel is in the same shape, the steering wheel unit may be difficult to carry and may be carried in an unstable state. Therefore, the steering wheel unit may be accidentally damaged due to dropping, collision, or the like.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel unit that can be carried in a stable state by folding the steering wheel.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a steering wheel unit attached to a vehicle having a steering mechanism that transmits a rotational drive of a steering shaft to a wheel and turns the steering wheel. A steering wheel shaft having one end connected to the steering wheel, and the other end provided with a detachable connecting portion to the steering shaft, an electric motor for giving a steering assist force to the steering wheel shaft, and the steering wheel A speed reduction mechanism that is attached to the shaft and transmits the rotation of the electric motor at a reduced speed, a torque sensor that detects a steering torque applied to the steering wheel shaft, and calculates the steering assist force based on the steering torque And drive control of the electric motor A control unit; and a housing that houses the steering wheel shaft, the speed reduction mechanism unit, the electric motor, the torque sensor, and the control unit, and the steering wheel has an annular portion for a driver to hold. And the annular portion is provided such that it can be folded in the axial direction of the steering wheel shaft and can be returned to its original position.

  According to the above configuration, the steering wheel unit is provided such that the annular portion of the steering wheel held by the driver can be folded from the normal steerable position in the axial direction of the steering wheel shaft. For this reason, when the driver or the like carries the steering wheel unit removed from the vehicle, it can be carried in a stable state by having the folded annular part. As a result, it is possible to prevent the steering wheel unit from being accidentally damaged due to dropping, collision or the like.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the steering wheel unit according to the first aspect, the annular portion has a divided piece divided into two, and the divided piece is folded or returned to its original position. A bent portion that is connected in a state of being connected, an engaging means that is provided at a convex portion of one of the divided pieces, and that engages with a concave portion of the other divided piece at the bent portion, the concave portion of the divided piece, and the The gist of the invention is to have release means capable of releasing engagement with the engagement means.

  According to the above configuration, in the bent portion that connects the split pieces of the annular portion of the steering wheel, the engaging means that is provided on the convex portion of one of the split pieces and engages the concave portion of the other split piece, and the concave portion. And release means for releasing the engagement with the combination means. For this reason, the annular portion of the steering wheel can be folded by releasing the engagement. This makes it possible for the driver or the like to safely carry the steering wheel unit in a stable state.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a steering wheel unit that can be carried in a stable state by folding the steering wheel.

The schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the electric power steering apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows schematic structure of the steering wheel unit of FIG. (A) is the figure which looked at the steering wheel from the front back side, (b) was the figure which looked at the steering wheel unit from the front upper side in the state which folded the steering wheel. The figure which shows schematic structure of the locking mechanism of a steering wheel. The figure which shows schematic structure of the bending part of a steering wheel.

Hereinafter, a steering wheel unit according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electric power steering apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the electric power steering apparatus 1 is provided in association with a steering mechanism of a vehicle, and applies steering assist force to the steering mechanism. The electric power steering apparatus 1 includes a steering wheel unit 4 including a steering wheel 2 and an assist control mechanism 3 that constitutes a steering assist mechanism, and a rack and pinion mechanism 14. The steering wheel 2 connected to the assist control mechanism 3 is coupled to a steering wheel shaft 5 that is rotatably supported with respect to a vehicle (not shown). The rack-and-pinion mechanism 14 has a rack (rack gear) 12 that meshes with a pinion (pinion gear) 13, and has a rack shaft (rack bar) 15 as a steered shaft that is unrotatable and extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle. ing.

  An actuator included in the assist control mechanism 3 is attached to the steering wheel shaft 5 and applies a steering assist force (power) to the steering wheel shaft 5. The actuator includes a speed reduction mechanism (speed reduction mechanism section) 19 and an electric motor 20 that constitute the steering wheel unit 4. The electric motor 20 that is a drive source of the actuator is connected to the steering wheel shaft 5 via a speed reduction mechanism 19 including an input pulley 25, an output pulley 26, and a belt 27 (both see FIG. 2), which will be described later. The rotational force of the electric motor 20 is decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism 19 and this reduced rotational force is transmitted to the steering shaft 6 as an assist torque.

  The electric motor 20 is controlled by an ECU (control unit) 21 constituting an electronic control unit including a CPU (microcomputer) (not shown). For example, a three-phase brushless motor is used. Further, the rotational speed of the rotating shaft of the electric motor 20 is calculated from the rotational angle θm detected by the rotational angle sensor 22 such as a resolver bar incorporated in the electric motor 20. The ECU 21 includes a CPU and a drive circuit (inverter) that is controlled by the CPU and supplies electric power to the electric motor 20. The ECU 21 is connected to other ECUs, for example, by CAN, and communicates with each other to exchange steering command values, detection values of various sensors, other information necessary for motor control, and the like.

  Further, the assist control mechanism 3 includes a torque sensor 16 that detects the steering torque τ based on a relative rotational displacement amount between the input shaft (upper end side) and the output shaft (lower end side) of the steering wheel shaft 5 via a torsion bar (not shown). I have. The values detected by the torque sensor 16 including the rotation angle sensor 22 and the external vehicle speed sensor 23 that detects the vehicle speed V, which is the vehicle speed, are input to the ECU 21 and processed.

  The steering shaft 6 includes a column shaft 7, an intermediate shaft 8, and a pinion shaft 9. The steering shaft 6 rotates integrally with the steering wheel shaft 5 as the steering wheel 2 rotates. As the pinion shaft 9 rotates, the rack shaft 15 reciprocates in the axial direction.

  Tie rods 10 are coupled to both ends of the rack shaft 15, and each tie rod 10 is connected to the steered wheel 11 via a knuckle arm (not shown). When the steering wheel 2 is operated and the steering shaft 6 rotates, this rotation is converted into an axial movement of the rack shaft 15 along the left-right direction of the vehicle by the rack and pinion mechanism 14. Thereby, the turning of the steered wheel 11 is achieved.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of the steering wheel unit 4 of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the steering wheel unit 4 includes a steering wheel 2 and an assist control mechanism 3 including a steering wheel shaft 5. The steering wheel shaft 5 is connected to the steering wheel 2 at its upper end so as to rotate integrally around the axis. A column shaft 7 is fitted into the connecting portion at the lower end of the steering wheel shaft 5. The steering wheel shaft 5 and the column shaft 7 are connected so that their shaft centers coincide with each other so as to rotate integrally.

  The assist control mechanism 3 is configured to cover the lower part of the steering wheel shaft 5 and accommodate the speed reduction mechanism 19, the electric motor 20, the torque sensor 16, and the ECU 21 in a steering wheel housing (housing) 24 formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. Has been. The electric motor 20 has a rotation shaft and a rotation angle sensor 22 (see FIG. 1), and is arranged so that the rotation shaft is substantially parallel to the steering wheel shaft 5. The torque sensor 16 is disposed around the steering wheel shaft 5. The ECU 21 is attached to the steering wheel housing 24, and a wiring cable 17 including an external power supply line and a signal line is connected to the connector 18.

  The speed reduction mechanism 19 is a speed reduction mechanism portion including a pulley and a belt, and has a diameter larger than, for example, a toothed input pulley 25 connected to a rotating shaft of the electric motor 20 and an input pulley 25 connected to the steering wheel shaft 5. A toothed output pulley 26, and a toothed belt 27 spanned between the input pulley 25 and the output pulley 26. The input pulley 25 is coupled so as to be integrally rotatable in the axial direction of the rotating shaft of the electric motor 20. The output pulley 26 is disposed so as to surround the steering wheel shaft 5.

  When the rotating shaft of the electric motor 20 rotates, the input pulley 25 rotates accordingly. The rotation of the input pulley 25 is transmitted to the output pulley 26 via the belt 27, and the output pulley 26 rotates at a lower speed than the rotation of the input pulley 25.

Next, FIG. 3A is a view of the steering wheel 2 viewed from the front rear side, and FIG. 3B is a view of the steering wheel unit 4 viewed from the upper front side with the steering wheel 2 folded.
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the steering wheel 2 includes a central portion 29 rotatably attached to a steering wheel shaft 5 (not shown) (see FIG. 2), and a plurality (in this embodiment, radially extending from the central portion 29). 3 spoke portions 30 and an annular gripping portion (annular portion) 28 supported by the spoke portions 30. The grip portion 28 is a resin member that the driver grips to operate the steering wheel 2 and is divided into two steering wheel pieces (divided pieces) 33 and 34 and connected by bending portions 31 provided at two upper and lower positions. Has been. The central portion 29 and the spoke portion 30 are integrally formed, and the grip portion 28 is detachably connected to and supported by each spoke portion 30.

  The bending portion 31 is provided with a plurality of (in this embodiment, two) lock mechanisms 32 that switch the connection of the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 between a locked state and an unlocked state by a claw 36 (see FIG. 4) described later. Yes. In addition, a plurality (two in this embodiment) of lock release buttons (release means) 35 for releasing (unlocking) the lock state of the lock mechanism 32 are disposed at the left and right positions on the rear side of the steering wheel 2. ing. The lock release button 35 is covered with a cover (not shown), and the lock mechanism 32 is unlocked in a state where the lock release button 35 is pressed after removing the cover. When the lock release button 35 is released, the lock mechanism 32 is locked again. .

  As shown in FIG. 3 (b), when the steering wheel unit 4 is detached from the vehicle and the grip 28 of the steering wheel 2 is folded, the surface sides of the two steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 come close to each other and the grip 28 can be gripped. When the steering wheel 2 is returned to the original position, the locking mechanism 32 is locked when the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 are tilted (in the direction of the arrow in the figure).

Next, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of the lock mechanism 32 of the steering wheel 2.
As shown in FIG. 4, the locking mechanism 32 is a metal thick plate-like claw (engagement unit) that is attached to the steering wheel piece 33 (34) so as to be pushed upward and pulled downward. Combination means) 36. The convex portion 37 of one steering wheel piece 33 (34) is fitted into the concave portion 38 of the other steering wheel piece 34 (33), and the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 are connected.

  Here, when the unlock button 35 is not pressed, the claw 36 is pushed out of the convex portion 37. When the metal plate-like lever 40 moves downward while the lock release button 35 is pressed, the coil spring 39 is pressed in conjunction with the movement of the lever 40, and the claw 34 is projected by the wire 41. It will be pulled inside 37 and will be in the retracted state (indicated by hatching in the figure). When the release of the lock release button 35 is released, the lever 40 is moved upward by the compression force of the coil spring 39, and the claw 36 is pushed out of the convex portion 37 in conjunction with the movement of the lever 40 and the wire 41. Return to the position.

  As a result, the two unlocking buttons 35 are pressed simultaneously, and the projections and depressions 37 and 38 of the bent portion 31 of the steering wheel 2 are attached and detached while the claw 36 is retracted inside the projection 37. By releasing the pressing of 35 and pushing the claw 36 out of the convex portion 37 again, the two claws 36 can be reliably engaged with the concave portion 38 and locked. As a result, it is possible to prevent the steering wheel unit 4 from being unintentionally detached.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a schematic structure of the bent portion 31 of the steering wheel 2.
As shown in FIG. 5, the bent portions 31 of the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 of the steering wheel 2 are configured to be foldable by a fixing bracket 42 (folded in the direction of the arrow in the figure). The fixing bracket 42 is screwed and attached to the inside of the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 so that the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 do not come off when folded. The lock mechanism 32 is locked when the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 are connected. After the locked state is unlocked, the connection of the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 is released.

  Next, the operation and effect of the steering wheel unit 4 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  According to the above configuration, the steering wheel unit 4 is provided such that the grip portion 28 of the steering wheel 2 gripped by the driver can be folded in the axial direction of the steering wheel shaft 5 from the normal steerable position. For this reason, when the driver or the like carries the steering wheel unit 4 removed from the vehicle, the steering wheel unit 4 can be carried in a stable state by having the folded grip portion 28. Further, in the bent portion 31 that connects the two divided steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 of the gripping portion 28 of the steering wheel 2, the claw 36 provided on the convex portion 37 of one steering wheel piece 33 (34) and the other one. A lock release button 35 for releasing the engagement of the steering wheel piece 34 (33) with the recess 38 is provided. For this reason, the grip 28 of the steering wheel 2 can be folded by releasing the engagement.

  As a result, when carrying the steering wheel unit 4 removed from the vehicle, it is possible to prevent the steering wheel unit 4 from being accidentally damaged due to dropping, collision, or the like. Further, by folding the divided steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 of the steering wheel 2, the driver or the like can safely carry the steering wheel unit in a stable state.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a steering wheel unit that can be carried in a stable state by folding the steering wheel can be provided.

  Although one embodiment according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention can also be implemented in other forms.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the steering wheel pieces 33 and 34 in which the steering wheel 2 is divided into the left and right sides with respect to the driver is provided and folded is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, Further, it may be changed as appropriate within a possible range such as changing the division position and increasing the number of divisions.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the claw 36 is operated by the lever 40 and the coil spring 39 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the claw 36 is directly pulled by a metal wire or the like by another method. You may make it come in and out.

  In the above embodiment, a method for attaching the steering wheel unit 4 to the vehicle is not particularly described, but it is possible to appropriately attach and fix the steering wheel housing 24 to a space opened in a dashboard facing the driver's seat. Moreover, it becomes easy to remove the steering wheel unit 4 by folding the steering wheel 2 before removing the steering wheel unit 4.

1: electric power steering device, 2: steering wheel, 3: assist control mechanism, 4: steering wheel unit, 5: steering wheel shaft,
6: steering shaft, 7: column shaft, 8: intermediate shaft, 9: pinion shaft, 10: tie rod, 11: steered wheel, 12: rack,
13: Pinion, 14: Rack and pinion mechanism, 15: Rack shaft,
16: Torque sensor, 17: Wiring cable, 18: Connector
19: Deceleration mechanism (deceleration mechanism part), 20: Electric motor, 21: ECU (control part),
22: rotation angle sensor, 23: vehicle speed sensor,
24: Steering wheel housing (housing), 25: Input pulley,
26: output pulley, 27: belt, 28: gripping part (annular part), 29: center part,
30: Spoke part, 31: Bending part, 32: Lock mechanism,
33, 34: Steering wheel piece (divided piece), 35: Lock release button (release means),
36: Claw (engagement means), 37: convex part, 38: concave part, 39: coil spring, 40: lever,
41: wire, 42: fixing bracket,
τ: steering torque, V: vehicle speed, θm: rotation angle

Claims (2)

A steering wheel unit that is attached to a vehicle having a steering mechanism that transmits the rotational drive of a steering shaft to a wheel and steers it,
A steering wheel,
A steering wheel shaft having one end connected to the steering wheel and the other end provided with a detachable connecting portion to the steering shaft;
An electric motor for providing a steering assist force to the steering wheel shaft;
A speed reduction mechanism that is attached to the steering wheel shaft and decelerates and transmits the rotation of the electric motor;
A torque sensor for detecting a steering torque applied to the steering wheel shaft;
A control unit that calculates the steering assist force based on the steering torque, and drives and controls the electric motor;
A housing that houses the steering wheel shaft, the speed reduction mechanism, the electric motor, the torque sensor, and the control unit;
The steering wheel has an annular portion for a driver to hold,
The steering wheel unit, wherein the annular portion is provided so as to be foldable in an axial direction of the steering wheel shaft and to be returned to an original position. In the steering wheel unit according to claim 1,
The annular part has a split piece divided into two, and a bent part connected in a state where the split piece is folded or returned to its original position;
Engagement means provided on a convex portion of one of the divided pieces and engaged with a concave portion of the other divided piece at the bent portion;
A steering wheel unit comprising: release means capable of releasing engagement between the concave portion of the divided piece and the engagement means.

Images