JP2018062315A - Vehicle steering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize a difference of rigidity between left and right sides of a vehicle body which results from a rigid body which is supported by a fixed bracket and presses and holds a steering column and a spring member.SOLUTION: A vehicle steering device includes: a fixed bracket (2) supported by a vehicle body and having a pair of holding parts; a steering column (1) which is supported so as to slide relative to the fixed bracket and swing relative to the vehicle body; a rigid body (3) disposed at the one holding part (21) of the fixed bracket; a spring member (4) supported by the other holding part (22), having a flat plate part, a first leg part extending from its one end and fixed to the other holding part, and a second leg part (42) which extends from the other end of the flat plate part and is disposed so as to contact with the other holding part, and having a substantially C shape cross section; and regulation means (for example, an elongated hole and a pin P) which regulates a deformation amount of the spring member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering device for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a steering device in which a steering column is swingably supported with respect to a vehicle body.

  2. Description of the Related Art A steering device is known that includes a tilt mechanism in which a steering column is swingably supported with respect to a vehicle body and is capable of adjusting the operation position of a steering wheel. For the purpose of providing a steering device that can securely hold the steering column by a pressing mechanism (described in paragraph [0005] of Patent Document 1). The steering column is disposed between the steering column and the steering column that supports the vehicle body so as to be swingable around the swing center, and a pair of holding portions that extend downward and face each other. A fixing bracket for fixing the upper portion to the vehicle body, a pair of holding portions of the fixing bracket, and the steering column A pair of pressing mechanisms that are slidably pressed to support the steering column and that can adjust the operation position of the steering wheel with respect to the vehicle body. At least one of which is movably supported by the holding portion of the fixed bracket and slidably holds the steering column, and is interposed between the sliding member and the holding portion. An urging means for urging the sliding member to press against the steering column; an engagement position for engaging the sliding member with the holding portion against the urging force of the urging means; The steering device has been proposed that includes an engagement / disengagement means that can select a release position for releasing the locking state of the sliding member to the holding portion (described in the paragraph [0006]). .

  Further, in Patent Document 2 below, Patent Document 1 is a prior art, and “To provide a steering device that can easily set the center position of a steering column and further improve the left-right vibration rigidity” is disclosed. For the purpose (described in paragraph [0005] of Patent Document 2), “a support mechanism for slidably supporting the steering column includes a spring member interposed between one of the pair of holding portions and the steering column; A steering device has been proposed which is composed of a rigid body interposed between the other of the pair of holding portions and the steering column (described in the paragraph [0009]).

JP 2012-81809 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-223974

  The pressing mechanism described in Patent Document 1 is composed of two spring members, whereas the supporting mechanism described in Patent Document 2 (corresponding to the pressing mechanism) is a single spring member, a rigid body, and a sliding member. The center position of the steering column can be easily set by the rigid body, and a stable holding pressure can be secured by the spring member, and the left and right vibration rigidity can be further improved. Can be held properly. However, in the mechanism described in Patent Document 2, there is a difference in rigidity between the left and right sides of the vehicle body. Therefore, it is desired to reduce this difference as much as possible.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a vehicle steering apparatus in which a steering column is swingably supported with respect to a vehicle body, and a rigidity difference between the left and right of the vehicle body caused by a rigid body supported by a fixed bracket and pressing and holding the steering column and a spring member. The problem is to make the size as small as possible.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention is a fixed bracket supported by a vehicle body and having a pair of holding portions, and is supported slidably with respect to the fixed bracket and slidably supported with respect to the vehicle body. A steering column, a rigid body interposed between one of the pair of holding portions of the fixed bracket and the steering column, and the other holding portion of the pair of holding portions are supported. A spring member, a first leg portion extending from one end of the flat plate portion and fixed to the other holding portion, and extending from the other end of the flat plate portion to contact the other holding portion; The steering device includes a spring member having a substantially U-shaped cross-section having a second leg portion disposed so as to be in contact with a restricting means for restricting deformation of the spring member.

  In the steering apparatus described above, it is preferable that the restricting means is constituted by a long hole formed in the second leg portion and a pin fitted into the long hole and fixed to the other holding portion. Further, the restricting means may be formed by a wall portion that is formed on the other holding portion and restricts sliding of the second leg portion. Or you may comprise the said control means by the rough surface part which is formed in said other holding | maintenance part and controls the sliding of a said 2nd leg part. Furthermore, you may comprise the said control means by the frame member arrange | positioned so that the said 1st leg part and the said 2nd leg part may be enclosed.

  The steering apparatus further includes a sliding member supported on a contact surface of the spring member with the steering column, and a sliding member supported on the contact surface of the rigid body with the steering column. It may be provided.

  Since this invention is comprised as mentioned above, there exist the following effects. That is, in the steering device of the present invention, a fixed bracket that is supported by the vehicle body and has a pair of holding portions, a steering column that is slidably supported with respect to the fixed bracket and is slidably supported with respect to the vehicle body, A rigid body interposed between one holding portion of the pair of holding portions of the fixed bracket and the steering column, and a spring member supported by the other holding portion of the pair of holding portions, A first leg portion that extends from one end of the plate portion and is fixed to the other holding portion, and a second leg portion that extends from the other end of the flat plate portion and is disposed so as to contact the other holding portion. A spring member having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a restricting means for restricting deformation of the spring member are provided, and the deformation amount of the spring member is limited by the restricting means, so that the difference in rigidity between the left and right sides of the vehicle body is Make it as small as possible It can be. In this case, since not only a rigid body but also a spring member is used, good assemblability can be maintained.

  In the above steering apparatus, the restricting means is constituted by a long hole formed in the second leg portion and a pin fitted in the long hole and fixed to the other holding portion, and is also formed in the other holding portion. And configured by a wall portion that restricts sliding of the second leg, or formed by a rough surface portion that is formed on the other holding portion and restricts sliding of the second leg, or the first If the frame member is disposed so as to surround the leg portion and the second leg portion, the bending of the first leg portion and / or the second leg portion is appropriately regulated, and the spring member is deformed. The amount is limited. And about any spring member, a favorable assembly | attachment property can be ensured including a control means.

  The steering device further includes a sliding member supported on a contact surface of the spring member with the steering column, and further includes a sliding member supported on the contact surface with the rigid steering column. By doing so, it is possible to ensure smooth swinging of the steering column.

It is a perspective view which shows the one part assembly | attachment state of the steering apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the fixed bracket part in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the spring member provided for one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the spring member and fixing bracket part which are provided to one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the spring member and fixed bracket part which concern on other embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the spring member and fixed bracket part concerning other embodiments of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a spring member and a frame member concerning other embodiments of the present invention. It is a front view of the spring member and fixing bracket part which concern on another embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the spring member and fixing bracket part concerning another embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a part of a steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a steering column 1 is swingably supported with respect to a vehicle body (not shown), and a steering wheel (FIG. (Not shown) can be adjusted. The steering column 1 is mechanically or electrically connected to a steering mechanism (not shown), and this steering mechanism is driven in accordance with the operation of the steering wheel, and via a wheel steering mechanism (not shown). A steered wheel (not shown) is configured to steer.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed bracket 2 has a pair of holding portions 21 and 22 that extend downward from the vehicle and face each other, and a rigid body 3 is interposed between the one holding portion 21 and the steering column 1. At the same time, the spring member 4 is supported by the other holding portion 22. The rigid body 3 is supported so that a sliding member 33 made of synthetic resin comes into contact with the steering column 1 on the top surface, and the main body portion is fixed to the holding portion 21. The rigid body 3 of the present embodiment is made of metal, but may be a member formed of a hard material having a sufficiently high spring constant as compared with the spring member 4. Note that a portion corresponding to the rigid body 3 may be formed integrally with the holding portion 21, thereby reducing the number of parts.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the spring member 4 supported by the holding portion 22 includes a flat plate portion 40, a first leg portion 41 that extends from one end of the flat plate portion and is fixed to the holding portion 22, and It has the 2nd leg part 42 extended from the other end of the flat plate part 40, and is arrange | positioned so that it may contact | abut to the holding | maintenance part 22, and is formed in cross-sectional substantially U shape. As shown in FIG. 4, the first leg portion 41 is fixed to the holding portion 21 of the fixing bracket 2 by the rivet R, but the tip end portion of the second leg portion 42 slides with respect to the holding portion 22. Supported as possible.

  As a restricting means for restricting the deformation of the spring member 4, in this embodiment, a pin P fixed to the holding portion 22 is fitted into a long hole 42 a formed in the second leg portion 42. Thus, the bending of the second leg portion 42 is restricted, and the deformation amount of the spring member 4 is limited. That is, when the longitudinal end portion of the elongated hole 42a comes into contact with the pin P, the second leg portion 42 is prevented from sliding with respect to the holding portion 22, so that the bending of the second leg portion 42 is restricted. At this time, by adjusting the sliding resistance between the long hole 42a and the pin P, the bending characteristic of the second leg portion 42 can be appropriately set. Further, a sliding member 43 made of synthetic resin is supported on the top surface of the flat plate portion 40.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the rigid body 3 (and the sliding member 33) and the spring member 4 (and the sliding member 43) are respectively disposed between the holding portions 21 and 22 of the fixed bracket 2 and the steering column 1. The steering column 1 is slidably supported by these, and the deformation amount of the spring member 4 is appropriately limited by the restricting means (the long hole 42a and the pin P). The difference in rigidity can be minimized. Moreover, since the steering column 1 is held in a state of being pressed against the sliding member 33 (and eventually the rigid body 3) by the biasing force of the spring member 4, the center position of the steering column 1 is easily set by the rigid body 3. be able to. The drive mechanism 5 shown in FIG. 1 is the same as the conventional electric tilt mechanism and will not be described. However, the steering column 1 swings according to the control and the tilt operation is performed.

  As the restricting means, instead of the long hole 42a and the like, as shown in FIG. 5, the restricting means can be configured by a wall portion 22a that is formed in the holding portion 22 and restricts the sliding of the second leg portion 42. This restricts the bending of the second leg portion 42. That is, since the second leg portion 42 is limited to sliding for a minute distance (s) until the tip end of the second leg portion 42 abuts against the wall portion 22a, the bending of the second leg portion 42 is restricted.

  Alternatively, as the restricting means, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it may be configured by a rigid frame member 6 disposed so as to surround the first leg portion 41 and the second leg portion 42. The frame member 6 restricts the bending of the first and second leg portions 41 and 42.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the restricting means can be constituted by a rough surface portion 22b formed on the holding portion 22 and restricting the sliding of the second leg portion 42, and the second leg portion. The bending of the second leg portion 42 is restricted by the sliding resistance generated when the tip portion 42 slides. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, the holding portion 22 may be formed with an inclined surface 22c, and the second resistance due to the sliding resistance generated when the tip of the second leg portion 42 slides relative to the inclined surface 22c. The bending of the second leg portion 42 is restricted. Furthermore, the rough surface portion 22b may be formed on the inclined surface 22c.

  In addition, although the above-mentioned sliding members 33 and 43 can ensure smooth movement with respect to the steering column 1, instead of or in addition to these, the rigid body 3 and the spring member 4 (or the sliding member 33). 43) and at least one of the contact surfaces of the steering column 1 may be coated.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering column 2 Fixed bracket 21, 22 Holding part 3 Rigid body 4 Spring member 5 Drive mechanism 6 Frame member 40 Flat plate part 41 First leg part 42 Second leg part 33, 43 Sliding member

Claims (6)

  A fixed bracket supported by the vehicle body and having a pair of holding portions, a steering column supported slidably with respect to the fixed bracket and swingably with respect to the vehicle body, and a pair of holding portions of the fixed bracket A rigid body interposed between one of the holding portions and the steering column, and a spring member supported by the other holding portion of the pair of holding portions, the flat plate portion and the flat plate A first leg that extends from one end of the part and is fixed to the other holding part, and a second leg that extends from the other end of the flat part and is disposed so as to contact the other holding part. A vehicle steering apparatus comprising: a spring member having a substantially U-shaped cross section; and a restricting means for restricting a deformation amount of the spring member.   The said restricting means is comprised by the elongate hole formed in a said 2nd leg part, and the pin fitted to this elongate hole, and being fixed to said other holding | maintenance part. Vehicle steering device.   The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting means is formed by a wall portion that is formed in the other holding portion and restricts the sliding of the second leg portion.   2. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting means is formed by a rough surface portion that is formed in the other holding portion and restricts sliding of the second leg portion.   2. The vehicle steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting means includes a frame member disposed so as to surround the first leg portion and the second leg portion.   A sliding member supported by a contact surface of the spring member with the steering column and a sliding member supported by a contact surface of the rigid body with the steering column are provided. Item 6. The vehicle steering device according to any one of Items 1 to 5.

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