JP2019077410A - Steering column device - Google Patents

Abstract

To facilitate position adjustment of a steering shaft.SOLUTION: A steering column device has: a vehicle body attachment bracket 3 fixed to a vehicle body; and a jacket 7 which is supported so as to swing relative to the vehicle body attachment bracket 3 in a vertical direction and rotatably supports a steering shaft 5. A clutch unit is attached to the jacket 7 and a pinion 61 to which rotational power is transmitted from the clutch unit is provided. A sector gear 25 is attached to the vehicle body attachment bracket 3 and engages with the pinion 61. An operation lever 59 which is connected to the clutch unit so as to provide rotational power is provided.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a tilt type steering column apparatus which allows a steering shaft to swing up and down.

  The tilt type steering column apparatus includes a vehicle body mounting bracket fixed to a vehicle body, a jacket having a clamp for holding a pair of side walls of the vehicle body mounting bracket, a tilt bolt passing through the pair of side walls and the clamp, and a tilt bolt. And a control lever for turning operation. By turning the control lever, the pair of side walls and the clamp are tightened and locked by the tilt bolt, and the vertical tilt position of the jacket (steering shaft) is fixed. A structure substantially similar to such a steering column device is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

JP 2001-322552 A

  When adjusting the tilt position of the steering shaft, the above-described conventional tilt-type steering column device rotates the operation lever to release the lock while holding the steering wheel, and the steering wheel is desired to be moved vertically. Move the operating lever up and down to lock the position. As described above, in the conventional steering column device, since it is necessary to perform locking and unlocking by the operation lever while holding the steering wheel, the operation is extremely complicated.

  Then, this invention aims at making position adjustment of a steering shaft easy.

  The present invention comprises a vehicle body mounting bracket fixed to a vehicle body, a jacket pivotally supported in a vertical direction with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket, and rotatably supporting a steering shaft, the vehicle body mounting bracket and the jacket Any of a clutch unit attached to any one of the above, a pinion attached to any one of the vehicle body mounting bracket and the jacket, to which rotational power is transmitted from the clutch unit, and any of the vehicle body mounting bracket and the jacket It has a sector gear attached to the other or meshing with the pinion, and an operating lever connected to apply rotational power to the clutch unit.

  According to the present invention, the jacket for rotatably supporting the steering shaft is vertically moved via the clutch unit, the pinion and the sector gear only by swinging the operation lever up and down. For this reason, the tilt position adjustment of the steering shaft becomes easy.

It is a side view of a steering column device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the steering column apparatus of FIG. It is a front view of the steering column apparatus seen from the left direction of FIG. It is a left view of FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a BB sectional view of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

  1 and 2 show a tilt type steering column device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the steering column device 1 attached to the vehicle body, the left side in FIG. 1 is the rear of the vehicle body (indicated by arrow RR), and the right side is the front of the vehicle body (indicated by arrow FR). Hereinafter, "front" indicates the front of the vehicle, "rear" indicates the rear of the vehicle, and "left-right direction" indicates the left-right direction in FIG. 3 looking forward from the rear of the vehicle.

  The steering column device 1 is, as shown in FIG. 2, a vehicle body mounting bracket 3 attached to the vehicle body, and a jacket which is supported so as to be vertically swingable with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 and supports the steering shaft 5 rotatably. And 7. A steering wheel (not shown) is attached to the rear end (front end) of the steering shaft 5.

  The vehicle body mounting bracket 3 includes an upper surface 9 covering the upper portion of the jacket 7 and side surfaces 11 (11L, 11R) extending downward from both left and right sides of the upper surface 9. The left side surface portion 11L is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the top surface 9 and the side surface 11 form a substantially T-shape when viewed from the side. A front mounting portion 13 for mounting the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 to the vehicle body is provided in front of the upper surface portion 9, and rear mounting portions 15 for mounting the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 to the vehicle body on both left and right sides behind the upper surface portion 9. Is provided.

  Behind the rear attachment portion 15 of the upper surface portion 9, as shown in FIG. 5, a bending member 17 which is bent so as to be convex upward is attached. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, left and right fixing portions 17 a and 17 b protruding forward are formed at the lower portion of the bending member 17. Among these, the left fixing portion 17 a shown in FIG. 4 is fixed to the vehicle body by the bolt 19 together with the projecting portion 9 a which protrudes to the side of the upper surface portion 9.

  On the other hand, the fixing portion 17b on the right side shown in FIG. 1 is fixed to the vehicle body by a bolt 23 together with a flange portion 21a of a sector gear support member 21 described later and a projecting portion 9b projecting to the side of the upper surface 9. The flange portion 21 a protrudes laterally at the upper end portion of the sector gear support member 21 as shown in FIG. 5. The bolts 19 and 23 are bolts for fixing the rear mounting portion 15 of the upper surface portion 9 to the vehicle body, and the rear mounting portion 15 is formed by fastening the fixing portions 17a and 17b of the bending member 17 together with the projecting portions 9a and 9b. It is fixed to the car body.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sector gear support member 21 is fixed to the projecting portion 9 b together with the fixing portion 17 b by a single bolt 30 having a flange portion 21 a. As shown to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, the protrusion part 21b which protrudes toward back upwards of the bending member 17 is formed. The projecting portion 21 b is bent 90 degrees upward with respect to the flange portion 21 a, and is fixed to the rear surface of the bending member 17 by two bolts 31.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sector gear support member 21 is shaped such that the lower portion extends in the front-rear direction more than the upper portion. The sector gear 25 shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the inner surface of the rear portion of the lower portion of the sector gear support member 21 by a bolt and nut 27. In FIG. 1, a part of the teeth 25 a of the sector gear 25 is visible from the opening hole. The front portion of the lower portion of the sector gear support member 21 covers a portion of the lower side of the side surface portion 11R. In this state, the front portion of the sector gear support member 21 is fixed by the through bolt 29 so as to connect the lower portions of the left and right side surface portions 11L and 11R.

  As shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, the jacket 7 is provided with a cylindrical inner jacket 35 inside a cylindrical jacket body 33. The steering shaft 5 is rotatably inserted into the inner jacket 35.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a rocking support portion 37 supported so as to be vertically rockable with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 is formed on the front end of the jacket 7 (jacket main body 33). ing. In the swing support portion 37, a jacket support hole 37a penetrating in the left-right direction is formed. The jacket support hole 37 a is aligned with the bracket support hole 3 a provided at the front of the upper surface portion 9 of the vehicle body mounting bracket 3. The rocking support shaft 39 shown in FIG. 1 is inserted into the jacket support hole 37a and the bracket support hole 3a so that the jacket 7 and the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 can be relatively rotated.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the jacket 7 (jacket main body 33) is provided with a swing shaft insertion hole 7 a which is opened rearward in the left-right direction behind the jacket support hole 37 a of the swing support portion 37. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 is provided with long holes 11Lh and 11Rh at the top of the left and right side surface portions 11L and 11R, respectively. The long holes 11Lh and 11Rh are arc-shaped around the rocking support shaft 39, and are located at positions corresponding to the rocking shaft insertion hole 7a of the jacket 7.

  The rocking shaft 41 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 is inserted into and fixed to the rocking shaft insertion hole 7a. Both ends of the rocking shaft 41 in the axial direction are inserted into the long holes 11Lh and 11Rh so as to be movable relative to each other. Therefore, the jacket 7 swings up and down with respect to the swing support shaft 39 with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3, and at this time, the swing shaft 41 moves in the long holes 11Lh and 11Rh.

  The jacket 7 is provided with a drive mechanism accommodating portion 43 at a lower portion at substantially the same position in the front-rear direction with respect to the sector gear support member 21. The drive mechanism accommodating portion 43 accommodates the drive mechanism 45 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The drive mechanism accommodating portion 43 is a rear wall 43d connecting the front ends of the respective walls 43a, 43b and 43c, and the bottom wall 43c connecting the left and right side walls 43a and 43b, the lower portions of the side walls 43a and 43b See FIG. 4). The front end of one (right) side wall 43b is disposed between a pair of lower wall portions 38R and 38L extending downward from the lower surface of the jacket 7 as shown in FIG. 5 and supported by bolts 46 shown in FIG. .

  The drive mechanism accommodating portion 43 connects upper portions on the rear side of the left and right side walls 43a and 43b by a rear upper wall 43e illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a jacket support member 47 is mounted on the front side portion of the rear upper wall 43e. The jacket support member 47 includes a bottom portion 47a and left and right side portions 47b and 47c rising from the left and right ends of the bottom portion 47a, and the top is open. The side surfaces 47 b and 47 c have an inner peripheral surface formed in an arc shape, and the cylindrical portion of the inner jacket 35 is accommodated and fixedly supported on the rear end surface of the jacket 7.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the drive mechanism 45 includes an input shaft 49 rotatably supported by the left side wall 43a and an output shaft 51 rotatably supported by the right side wall 43b. The input shaft 49 and the output shaft 51 are coaxially provided, and the output shaft 51 is provided with a clutch unit 63 described later. A large gear 55 is attached to the input shaft 49, and a small gear 57 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 smaller in diameter than the large gear 55 is engaged with the large gear 55. The large gear 55 and the small gear 57 constitute a reduction mechanism 58.

  The small gear 57 is rotatably supported on the left side wall 43a on the front side in the drawing of FIG. 3 via a connecting shaft 60. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, on the side wall 43 b side of the small gear 57, the operating lever 59 is connected to the connecting shaft 60. The operation lever 59 protrudes rearward from an opening at the rear of the drive mechanism housing 43, and the small gear 57 is rotated via the connecting shaft 60 when the driver swings in the vertical direction. The rotational power of the small gear 57 is transmitted to the large gear 55, the input shaft 49, the clutch unit 63, the output shaft 51, and the gear 25 to swing the jacket 7 vertically with respect to the vehicle mounting bracket 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the output shaft 51 protrudes to the outside from the side wall 43b on the right side, and a pinion 61 is attached to the end of the protruding output shaft 51. The pinion 61 meshes with the aforementioned sector gear 25 as shown in FIG. The clutch unit 63 is mounted on the output shaft 51 as described above. The clutch unit 63 includes a lever side clutch portion 65 and a brake side clutch portion 67.

  The lever side clutch portion 65 includes an outer ring 69 connected to an input shaft 49 serving as an operation shaft, an inner ring 70, and a wedge member 71 disposed between the outer ring 69 and the inner ring 70. The lever-side clutch unit 65 transmits the rotational force input to the input shaft 49 by the rotation operation of the operation lever 59 to the inner ring 70 via the wedge member 71. At this time, the wedge member 71 moves from one of the neutral positions to one side to transmit the rotational force. On the other hand, in the return side rotation operation from the rotation position of the operation lever 59 to the neutral position, the rotational force input to the input shaft 49 is not transmitted to the output shaft 51.

  The brake clutch portion 67 includes a cover 73 as a fixed member, and a wedge member 75 disposed between the cover 73 and the ring portion 51 a of the output shaft 51. The wedge member 75 is an output shaft 51 (sector gear 25). Block input from Then, when the inner ring 70 rotates, the output shaft 51 can be rotated by rotating the output shaft 51 while releasing the biting of the wedge member 75 by the inner ring 70. The two centering springs 77 and 78 provided between the lever side clutch portion 65 and the brake side clutch portion 67 return the control lever 59 and the outer ring 69 of the lever side clutch portion 65 and the wedge member 71 to the neutral position. The support plate 79 fixes the drive mechanism 45 to the side wall 43 b of the drive mechanism housing 43 by a plurality of bolts 81.

  When the operation lever 59 is turned from the neutral position upward or downward, for example, upward as shown by arrow U in FIG. 6, the small gear 57 shown in FIG. 2 rotates clockwise in FIG. Along with this, the large gear 55 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The counterclockwise rotation of the large gear 55 in FIG. 6 is transmitted to the pinion 61 via the input shaft 49, the lever side clutch portion 65, and the output shaft 51 as it is. When the output shaft 51 receives a rotational force, the lock of the brake clutch portion 67 is released and the rotation of the output shaft 51 is permitted.

  When the pinion 61 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 6, the pinion 61 moves upward while rotating on the sector gear 25 attached to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 on the fixed side. Thus, the jacket 7 swings upward with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3, and the steering shaft is tilted.

  When the operating lever 59 is operated upward and then released from the operating lever 59, the operating lever 59, the outer ring 69 of the lever-side clutch portion 65, and the wedge member 71 are at their original positions by the centering springs 77 and 78 (neutral Return to position). At this time, the output shaft 51 is locked by the brake clutch portion 67. The return movement of the operation lever 59 is not transmitted to the output shaft 51, and returns to the original position without the tilt operation. When the control lever 59 is released, the sector gear 25 and the pinion 61 mesh with each other, whereby the tilt position is fixed. When operating the operating lever 59 downward, it only moves in the opposite direction to the case of operating upward.

  Next, the operation and effect of the first embodiment described above will be described.

  The present embodiment has a vehicle body mounting bracket 3 fixed to the vehicle body, and a jacket 7 supported so as to be vertically swingable with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 and rotatably support the steering shaft 5. A clutch unit 63 and a pinion 61 to which rotational power is transmitted from the clutch unit 63 are provided in the jacket 7. A sector gear 25 meshing with the pinion 61 is provided on the vehicle body mounting bracket 3. An operating lever 59 connected to apply rotational power to the clutch unit 63 is provided.

  In this case, the rotational operation force of the operation lever 59 is transmitted from the pinion 61 to the sector gear 25 via the clutch unit 63. At that time, the position adjustment of the steering shaft integrated with the jacket 7 can be performed in the vertical direction only by swinging the control lever 59 in the vertical direction, and the operability is improved.

  By providing the clutch unit 63, the pinion 61 attached to the output shaft 51 and the sector gear 25 can be constantly meshed, and the jacket 7 is always supported by the vehicle mounting bracket 3. For this reason, when operating the operation lever 59, the positional change in the vertical direction of the jacket 7 (steering wheel) with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 is restricted without holding the steering wheel, and the operability is improved. Further, the structure in which the pinion 61 and the sector gear 25 constantly mesh, for example, can suppress the positional change of the jacket 7 (steering wheel) when the vehicle collides.

  The clutch unit 63 of the present embodiment is provided on the input side, and is provided on the output side with the lever side clutch unit 65 for transmitting and blocking the rotational torque input by the lever operation, and the rotation from the lever side clutch unit 65 And a brake-side clutch unit (67) for blocking a rotational torque reversely input from the output side as well as transmitting the torque to the output side.

  In this case, the lever side clutch portion 65 can hold the operation lever 59 at the neutral position, and the brake side clutch portion 67 blocks rotational input from the sector gear 25 (vehicle body mounting bracket 3) to the input shaft 49 side. The tilt position can be held. At this time, since the output shaft 51 is locked by the brake-side clutch unit 67, a separate lock operation is unnecessary, operability is improved, and forgetting of the lock operation can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, a reduction gear mechanism 58 having a large gear 55 and a small gear 57 is provided between the operation lever 59 and the clutch unit 63. Thereby, the operation lever 59 can be operated with a lighter operation force, and the tilt position operation of the steering wheel becomes easier.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiments are only the examples described in order to make an understanding of this invention easy, and this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific technical matters disclosed in the above embodiments, but also includes various modifications, alterations, and alternative technologies that can be easily derived therefrom.

  For example, the clutch unit 63 may be attached to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 on the fixed side, and the sector gear 25 may be attached to the jacket 7 on the movable side. In this case, the clutch unit 63, the output shaft 51, the input shaft 49, the large gear 55, the small gear 57, and the operation lever 59 are attached to the vehicle body mounting bracket 3 on the fixed side.

  Even with such a configuration, by operating the operation lever 59 on the fixed side in the same manner as the embodiment described above, the jacket 7 on the movable side provided with the sector gear 25 swings in the vertical direction, and the steering shaft is tilted. You can change the position. At that time, the vertical position adjustment of the steering shaft integrated with the jacket 7 can be easily performed only by swinging the operation lever 59 as in the above-described embodiment.

  In the configuration in which the operation lever 59 is attached to the fixed side vehicle body mounting bracket 3, the operation lever 59 moves up and down with the vertical movement of the jacket 7 as in the case where the operation lever 59 is attached to the movable side jacket 7. Improves operability.

  Instead of using the operation lever 59, for example, a motor drive using a geared motor or the like may be used.

Reference Signs List 3 body mounting bracket 5 steering shaft 7 jacket 25 sector gear 58 speed reduction mechanism 63 clutch unit 59 operation lever 61 pinion 65 lever side clutch portion 67 brake side clutch portion

Claims (3)

A vehicle mounting bracket fixed to the vehicle body;
A jacket pivotally supported in the vertical direction with respect to the vehicle body mounting bracket and rotatably supporting a steering shaft;
A clutch unit attached to one of the vehicle body mounting bracket and the jacket;
A pinion attached to any one of the vehicle body mounting bracket and the jacket and to which rotational power is transmitted from the clutch unit;
A sector gear attached to the other of the vehicle body mounting bracket and the jacket and engaged with the pinion;
And a control lever connected to apply rotational power to the clutch unit. The clutch unit
A lever-side clutch portion provided on the input side for transmitting and blocking the rotational torque input by the operation of the operation lever;
And a brake-side clutch portion provided on the output side for transmitting the rotational torque from the lever side clutch portion to the output side and blocking the rotational torque reversely input from the output side. The steering column device according to claim 1.   The steering column device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a reduction gear mechanism is provided between the control lever and the clutch unit.

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