JP2018167702A - Steering Wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a steering wheel core metal that can prevent a ring member from separating from a spork part during steering of a steering wheel.SOLUTION: A steering wheel core metal 1 comprises: a ring member 31 including a boss part 2, a ring part 3 a part of which is formed of a tubular material, and a spork part 4; a plug member 5 having lid parts 51 respectively covering openings 33 in both ends of the ring member 31; a die-cast ring member 6 formed of a die-cast material and covering a part of the ring member 31 and the plug member 5; and a die-cast body member 7 extending from the die-cast ring member 6 and in which the boss part 2 and the spork part 4 are integrally molded. The steering wheel core metal 1 comprises: drop-out preventing means that prevents the plug member 5 from dropping out from the ring member 31; and fall-off prevention means that prevents the plug member 5 from falling off the die-cast ring member 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering wheel core for an automobile.

  In recent years, as a part of weight reduction of automobiles, a ring member made of a pipe material is applied to a ring part of a steering wheel core metal, and a spoke part and a boss part are cast and integrated into the ring member by die casting to constitute a steering wheel metal core. .

  By the way, when the spoke part and the boss part are cast and integrated into the ring member by die casting, there is a concern that the die casting material flows into the ring member and cannot be molded into the target shape.

  Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for suppressing a die-cast material from flowing into the ring member by disposing a plug material in the opening of the ring member.

JP-A-7-165085

  By the way, since the steering wheel is used for steering a vehicle, rigidity is required. The rigidity of the steering wheel is greatly affected by the steering wheel core, and in order to increase the rigidity of the steering wheel, it is necessary to increase the rigidity of the steering wheel core. On the other hand, the steering wheel metal core of Patent Document 1 is configured such that the opening of the ring member is covered with a plug material and the periphery thereof is covered with a die-cast material. At the time of steering of the steering wheel, the steering wheel core material of Patent Document 1 receives force only at the interface between the ring member and the die-cast material covering the periphery thereof, so there is a concern that the interface may be peeled off and the ring member may come off from the spoke part. is there.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel mandrel capable of suppressing the ring member from coming off from the spoke part during steering of the steering wheel.

<Explanation of Claim 1>
The steering wheel core metal according to the present invention consists of a boss part, a ring part, and a spoke part,
A ring member in which a part of the ring part is made of a pipe material, a plug member having a lid part that covers openings at both ends of the ring member, a die cast member that is made of a die cast material and covers the part of the ring member and the plug member, and a die cast A steering wheel metal core comprising a die-cast main body member formed integrally with a boss portion and a spoke portion extending from a ring member,
Steering wheel mandrel
A drop-off suppressing means for preventing the plug member from dropping from the ring member,
A drop prevention means for preventing the stopper member from falling off the die cast ring member,
A steering wheel mandrel characterized by having

  The plug member has a lid portion that covers both openings of the ring member so that the die-cast material can be prevented from flowing into the ring member, and the plug member is prevented from falling off the ring member, and the plug member is a die-cast string member. The stopper member is fixed to both the ring member and the die cast ring member by including the drop suppression means for suppressing the drop-off from the ring member.

  Therefore, when steering force is applied to the ring during steering, the force can be propagated to the plug member by the drop-off restraining means and then to the die cast ring member by the drop-off restraining means. The ring member can be prevented from coming off from the die cast ring member.

<Explanation of Claim 2>
In the steering wheel metal core according to the present invention, the drop-off suppressing means is disposed between the insertion portion extending from the lid portion of the plug member into the ring member and the inner peripheral surface of the ring member, and the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface. The steering wheel metal core according to claim 1, wherein the steering wheel metal core is an adhesive material for adhering to each other.

  In such a configuration, the plug member includes an insertion portion extending from the lid portion to the inside of the ring member, and an adhesive that bonds the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface between the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface of the ring member. By disposing, the stopper member can be prevented from falling off the ring member.

<Explanation of Claim 3>
In the steering wheel mandrel according to the present invention, the drop-off suppressing means is configured such that one or both of the ring member and the plug member can be elastically deformed, an insertion portion extending from the lid portion of the plug member into the ring member, and an inner portion of the ring member. The steering wheel metal core according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral surface is pressure-bonded.

In such a configuration, one or both of the ring member and the plug member can be elastically deformed, extends from the lid portion of the plug member, the insertion portion is press-fitted into the ring member, and the inner peripheral surface and the insertion portion are pressure-bonded. Thus, the stopper member can be prevented from falling off the ring member.

<Explanation of Claim 4>
In the steering wheel metal core according to the present invention, the drop-off suppressing means allows one or both of the ring member and the plug member to be elastically deformed, and the insertion portion extending into the ring member from the lid portion of the plug member is provided inside the ring member. The steering wheel mandrel according to claim 1, further comprising one or a plurality of ribs extending toward the peripheral surface, wherein the ribs and the inner peripheral surface are in contact with each other.

In such a configuration, one or both of the ring member and the plug member can be elastically deformed. The plug member includes an insertion portion extending from the lid portion to the inside of the ring member. The rib and the inner peripheral surface come into contact with each other by one or a plurality of ribs extending toward the surface, and the plug member can be prevented from falling off the ring member.

<Explanation of Claim 5>
The steering wheel metal core according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising an adhesive that is disposed between the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface and adheres the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface. .

In such a configuration, the stopper member can be prevented from falling off the ring member by the adhesive that is disposed between the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface and adheres the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface.

<Explanation of Claim 6>
In the steering wheel metal core according to the present invention, the drop-off suppressing means uses the direction substantially perpendicular to the surface on the opposite side of the opening side of the lid as a plug shaft, and extends from the surface on the opposite side of the lid side to the plug shaft. A shaft portion extending along the shaft portion and a head portion disposed on the opposite side of the lid portion of the shaft portion, wherein the head portion protrudes at least partially from the shaft portion in a direction perpendicular to the plug shaft. The steering wheel mandrel according to any one of 5.

In such a configuration, the direction substantially orthogonal to the surface opposite to the opening side of the lid portion is the plug shaft, and the head is located at the tip of the shaft portion extending along the plug shaft from the surface opposite to the opening side of the lid portion. And at least a part of the head protrudes from the shaft portion in a direction perpendicular to the plug shaft. There is a space between the portion protruding from the shaft portion of the head and the lid portion, and the die-cast material enters the space, so that the plug member can be prevented from falling off from the die-cast string member.

<Explanation of claim 7>
The steering wheel metal core according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the opening is an asymmetrical opening in the steering wheel metal core according to the present invention.

  In such a configuration, the opening of the ring member has an asymmetrical opening shape, so that erroneous assembly can be suppressed when the plug member is assembled to the ring member.

<Explanation of Claim 8>
The steering wheel metal core according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein in the steering wheel metal core according to the present invention, the plug member is made of the same material as the die-cast material.

  In such a configuration, the physical properties of the plug member and the die-cast material are close to each other by using the same material. Steering steering applies a force to the ring part in the steering rotation direction, and the force propagates, and when the force is transmitted between the plug member and the die cast ring member, the physical properties are close so that the plug member and the die cast ring member are integrated. It becomes possible to make the deformation behavior close to.

1 is an overall plan view of a steering wheel mandrel according to a first embodiment. It is a perspective view of the stopper member in the steering wheel metal core of a 1st embodiment. It is an expanded sectional view which follows III-III of FIG. It is a figure which shows the opening shape of the opening of a ring member. It is a perspective view of the stopper member in the steering wheel mandrel of a 3rd embodiment.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a steering wheel mandrel 1. The steering wheel core 1 includes a boss portion 2 fastened to a steering shaft (not shown), a ring portion 3 positioned on the outer peripheral side of the boss portion 2, and a spoke portion 4 that connects the boss portion 2 and the ring portion 3. Composed. The ring portion 3 includes a ring member 31 that is at least partially made of a pipe material, and plug members 5 having lid portions 51 that cover the openings 33 of the ring member 31 are assembled to both ends of the ring member 31 (FIG. 2). (See FIGS. 3 and 4). After the ring member 31 and the plug member 5 are assembled, the boss portion 2 and the spoke portion 4 are integrally formed by die casting so as to connect the boss portion 2 and the end portion of the ring member 31. Here, a part of the ring part 3 where a part of the ring member 31 and the plug member 5 are encased in a die-cast material is used as a die-casting part 6, and the boss part 2 and the spoke part 4 are used as a die-casting body member 7. And

  The drop-off suppressing means of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The plug member 5 includes an insertion portion 52 that extends from the lid portion 51 into the ring member 31. In the plug member 5, the insertion portion 52 is set narrower than the opening 33 of the ring member 31, and the adhesive 8 is disposed between the insertion portion 52 and the inner peripheral surface 32 of the ring member 31. With the adhesive 8, the insertion portion 52 and the inner peripheral surface 32 of the ring member 31 are bonded to each other, and the stopper member 5 can be prevented from falling off the ring member 31. As the adhesive 8, it is effective to use a material that does not easily lower the adhesive strength even at high heat by die casting such as fire-resistant putty.

  The drop suppression means will be described with reference to FIGS. The lid portion 51 of the plug member 5 has an area larger than that of the opening 33 of the ring member 31, and is disposed so as to face the opening side surface 511 disposed on the opening 33 side and the opening side surface 511. The opening side surface 512 is the same, and the opening side surface 511 and the lid side surface 513 connecting the ends of the opening side surface 512 are configured. The plug member 5 includes a seat portion 55 extending from the lid portion 51. The seat 55 has a plug axis X in a direction substantially orthogonal to the anti-opening side surface 512, extends from the anti-opening side surface 512 toward the plug axis X while narrowing the tip, and the tip side is a plane substantially parallel to the anti-opening side surface 512. It was. The plug member 5 includes a shaft portion 53 extending from the seat portion 55. The shaft portion 53 extends in a columnar shape from the tip of the seat portion 55 in the direction of the plug shaft X. Further, the surface of the shaft portion 53 orthogonal to the plug shaft X is narrower than the surface of the tip of the seat portion 55. The plug member 5 includes a head portion 54 extending from the shaft portion 53. The head 54 extends from the tip of the shaft portion 53 while narrowing the tip in the direction of the plug shaft X. Further, the surface of the head 54 on the side of the shaft portion 53 has a shape in which at least a part protrudes from the shaft portion 53 in a direction orthogonal to the plug shaft X. By doing so, it becomes possible to have a space between the seat portion 55 and at least a part of the head portion 54 that protrudes from the shaft portion 53 in the direction perpendicular to the plug shaft X. At the time of die casting, It becomes possible to allow the die-cast material to enter the space between the seat portion 55 and the head portion 54, and to prevent the ring member 31 from coming out of the die-casting member 6 during steering.

  The opening 33 of the ring member 31 has an asymmetrical opening shape in which a straight line 34 and both ends thereof are connected by an arc 35 (see FIG. 4). In addition, the insertion portion 52 of the plug member 5 has a cross-section orthogonal to the direction of insertion into the opening 33 of the ring member 31 in a relationship similar to the opening shape of the ring member 31. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the stopper member 5 from being attached to the ring member 31 with the wrong orientation.

  Moreover, it is desirable that the plug member 5 and the die cast ring member 6 are made of the same material. By using the same material for the plug member 5 and the die-cast material, the physical properties of each other become close. By steering, a force is applied to the ring portion 3 in the steering rotation direction, the force propagates, and when the force is transmitted between the plug member 5 and the die-cast string member 6, the physical properties are close to each other. It becomes possible for the member 6 to have a deformation behavior close to that of a single body. In the case of materials having greatly different physical properties, a deformation mode occurs in which one of them is greatly deformed and the other is smallly deformed, and cracks and the like are likely to occur near the boundary.

  The dropout suppression means of the second embodiment will be described. The plug member 5 has the insertion portion 52 set thicker than the opening 33 of the ring member 31. By making both or one of the ring member 31 and the plug member 5 into an elastically deformable material such as an aluminum alloy or a magnesium alloy, the insertion portion 52 can be press-fitted into the inside from the opening 33 of the ring member 31. It is possible to suppress the stopper member 5 from dropping from the ring member 31 by pressure-bonding 32 and the insertion portion 52. In addition, by making the end portion of the insertion portion 52 opposite to the lid portion 51 thinner than the opening 33 of the ring member 31, the assembling property can be improved.

  The drop-off suppressing means of the third embodiment will be described. The plug member 5 of FIG. 5 includes one or a plurality of ribs 56 that extend from the insertion portion 52 toward the inner peripheral surface 32 of the ring member 31 and abut against the inner peripheral surface 32. By bringing the rib 56 and the inner peripheral surface 32 into contact with each other, it is possible to suppress the stopper member 5 from dropping from the ring member 31. Further, the use of the adhesive 8 that bonds the insertion portion 52 and the inner peripheral surface 32 improves the drop-off suppressing effect.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Steering wheel metal 2 ... Boss part 3 ... Ring part 31 ... Ring member 32 ... Inner peripheral surface 33 ... Opening 34 ... Straight line 35 ... Arc 4 ... Spoke part 5 ... Plug member 51 ... Cover part 511 ... Opening side surface 512 ... Anti-opening side surface 513... Lid side surface 52... Insertion portion 53... Shaft portion 54.

Claims (8)

It consists of a boss part, a ring part, and a spoke part.
A ring member in which a part of the ring part is made of a pipe material, a plug member having a lid part that covers openings at both ends of the ring member, and a die cast string member that is made of a die cast material and covers a part of the ring member and the plug member And a steering wheel mandrel comprising a die-cast main body member extending from the die-casting member and integrally molding the boss part and the spoke part,
The steering wheel mandrel is
Drop-off suppressing means for preventing the plug member from dropping from the ring member;
Drop-off suppression means for the plug member to prevent the plug member from falling off the die-cast string member,
A steering wheel mandrel characterized by having The drop-off suppressing means is disposed between an insertion portion extending from the lid portion of the plug member into the ring member and an inner peripheral surface of the ring member, and bonds the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface. The steering wheel metal core according to claim 1, wherein the steering wheel metal core is an adhesive material.   The drop-off suppressing means includes one or both of the ring member and the plug member that are elastically deformable, an insertion portion that extends into the ring member from the lid portion of the plug member, and an inner peripheral surface of the ring member. The steering wheel metal core according to claim 1, wherein   One or both of the ring member and the plug member can be elastically deformed, and the drop-in suppressing means has an insertion portion extending from the lid portion of the plug member into the ring member on the inner peripheral surface of the ring member. The steering wheel mandrel according to claim 1, further comprising one or a plurality of ribs extending toward the top, wherein the ribs and the inner peripheral surface are in contact with each other.   The steering wheel mandrel according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising an adhesive disposed between the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface to bond the insertion portion and the inner peripheral surface.   The drop prevention means has a plug shaft in a direction substantially orthogonal to the surface opposite to the opening side of the lid portion, and a shaft portion extending along the plug shaft from the surface opposite to the opening side of the lid portion. And a head portion disposed on the opposite side of the lid portion of the shaft portion, wherein the head portion protrudes at least partially from the shaft portion in a direction perpendicular to the plug shaft. The steering wheel mandrel according to any one of 5.   The steering wheel cored bar according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the opening has an asymmetrical opening shape.   The steering wheel mandrel according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the plug member is made of the same material as the die-cast material.

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