JP2020128112A - Steering device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a steering device for a vehicle that can be brought into an attitude in which an air bag that is expanded accompanying a collision of the vehicle receives and protects a driver in an optimum state.SOLUTION: The steering device comprises: a steering wheel 2 in a non-circular shape having no grasping part arranged in an upper area of a rotation center at a steering neutral position; a pad 3 arranged at the rotation center of the steering wheel 2 and connected rotationally and integrally with an inner end of the steering shaft 1; an air bag 4 in an irregular shape, stored in the pad 3, in which expansion amounts in a vehicle longitudinal direction of a site expanding toward above the pad 3 at the steering neural position are larger than expansion amounts of expanded sites other than the site; an actuation part 9 that makes the air bag 4 expand in response to a request; and preparation parts (a clutch 6, a reaction force actuator 8 and a controller 10) that when the actuation part 9 expands the air bag, arrange the steering wheel 2 at the steering neutral position before the expansion of the air bag 4.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a steering device for a vehicle.

In Patent Document 1, a mounting side base cloth attached to an adherend member, a facing side base cloth facing the mounting side base cloth, and a gas supplied from a gas inflow opening portion in an operating state between the both base cloths. And an air bag having a bag portion for storing the air bag.

At least the lower half of the bag portion is provided with a front and back integrated portion in which both base fabrics are integrated, and a gas flow in the outer peripheral direction of the bag portion so as to divide the front and back integrated portion into a plurality of parts. A passage is provided to allow

Then, when the airbag is operated, the passage dividing the front and back integrated portions is quickly expanded and expanded into a hollow cylindrical shape, so that a predetermined stroke amount in the lower half portion is quickly secured. Further, the direction of the flow of the gas that is supplied from the gas inlet into the bag portion and collides with the front and back integrated portions is changed upward in the bag portion. This also improves the deployment speed in the upper half of the airbag. As a result, the airbag is inflated into a predetermined shape in a shorter time, and the airbag in the deployed state is quickly interposed between the invading occupant and the adherend member.

JP, 2001-328500, A

In Patent Document 1, when the airbag deploys due to a collision while the steering is turned off, there is concern that the airbag cannot receive the driver in a safe state.

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering device for a vehicle, which is capable of receiving a driver in an optimal state and protecting the driver by an airbag deployed in response to a vehicle collision. I am trying.

A steering device for a vehicle according to the present invention includes a non-circular steering wheel having no grip portion in an upper region of a rotation center at a steering neutral position, and an inner end of a steering shaft which is arranged at the rotation center of the steering wheel and is integrally rotated. And a pad that is stored in the pad and expands above the pad at the steering neutral position (also referred to as a straight-ahead steering position) in the vehicle front-rear direction with respect to other expansion parts. An air bag having a deformed shape that becomes larger than the inflated amount, an operating portion that deploys the airbag when a vehicle receives an impact load of a predetermined amount or more, and the airbag before the airbag is deployed by the operating portion. And a preparation unit for disposing the steering wheel at the steering neutral position.

In this configuration, when the airbag is deployed, the non-circular steering wheel is placed at the steering neutral position before the deployment, so when the airbag is deployed, the pad in the airbag is deployed. The part having a large expansion amount developed in the upper region of the vehicle faces the upper body of the driver.

As a result, even in the configuration including the non-circular steering wheel and the air bag having a deformed shape suitable for the steering wheel, the air bag is configured to receive and protect the driver in an optimum state in the event of a vehicle collision. It will be possible.

By the way, the non-circular steering wheel has a configuration in which a circular steering wheel is arranged in a steering neutral position, and an upper region of a rotation center is eliminated, and gripping portions are provided symmetrically in a left region and a right region of the rotation center. can do.

The steering device drives a steering box that steers wheels, a clutch that connects or disconnects an outer end of the steering shaft and an input shaft (pinion shaft) of the steering gear box, and the steering gear box. A steering actuator, a reaction force actuator that applies a reaction force torque corresponding to the steering of the steering wheel to the steering shaft, a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle of the steering wheel, and an output from the steering angle sensor. The controller further controls the steering actuator and the reaction force actuator so as to steer the wheels based on the steering actuator.

Further, the controller controls the reaction force actuator so as to disengage the clutch and then dispose the steering wheel at the steering neutral position when it is determined that the vehicle has received an impact load of a predetermined amount or more, and The airbag is deployed by the actuating portion. The clutch, the reaction force actuator, and the controller constitute the preparation unit.

According to the vehicle steering system of the present invention, it becomes possible to receive the driver in an optimum state and protect the driver by the airbag deployed in response to the collision of the vehicle.

It is a figure showing the schematic structure of one embodiment of the steering device for vehicles concerning the present invention. It is a figure which shows the state which looked at the steering wheel of the steering apparatus of FIG. 1 from the driver side. It is a figure which shows the function implementation means of the expansion process by the controller of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which expanded the airbag in the steering apparatus shown in FIG. It is a development view of the parts which comprise the airbag of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the steering wheel shown in FIG. 1 is steered to the right by a predetermined angle when a vehicle collides.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. The steering apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration called steer-by-wire, and includes a steering shaft 1, a steering wheel 2, a pad 3, an airbag 4, a steering gear box 5, a clutch 6, a steering actuator 7, a reaction force actuator 8, The operating unit 9 and the controller 10 are provided.

The steering wheel 2 is formed in a non-circular shape, for example, a semicircle as shown in FIG. The non-circular steering wheel 2 has a shape such that the upper region of the rotation center is eliminated when a circular steering wheel (not shown) is arranged at the steering neutral position. In other words, the non-circular steering wheel 2 means that there is no grip portion in the upper region of the rotation center when the circular steering wheel (not shown) is arranged in the steering neutral position, and there is a point in the left region and the right region of the rotation center. It is like having symmetrically provided grips.

The pad 3 is arranged at the center of rotation of the steering wheel 2, and the inner end of the steering shaft 1 is rotationally connected to the pad 3. The steering shaft 1 is rotatably supported by a vehicle body (not shown).

The airbag 4 is housed in the pad 3. The airbag 4 has an irregular shape. As shown in FIG. 4, the airbag 4 having this irregular shape has an expansion amount in the vehicle front-rear direction of a portion that is deployed on the upper side of the pad 3 at the steering neutral position compared to the above-described inflation amounts of other deployment portions. Is something that gets bigger and bigger.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the airbag 4 is composed of a rear panel 41, a side panel 42, and a front panel 43. The rear panel 41 and the front panel 43 are formed in a circular shape, and the rear panel 41 is set to have a smaller diameter dimension than the front panel 43. The side panel 42 is formed in a substantially semicircular shape. By connecting the outer peripheries of the panels 41 to 43, the panels 41 to 43 are developed in a shape like an inverted triangle in a side view as shown in FIG.

By the way, in the case of such an irregularly shaped airbag 4, when the non-circular steering wheel 2 is deployed in the steering neutral position, the steering wheel 2 and the airbag 4 optimize the driver. It is possible to secure a posture to protect in such a state.

The steering gear box 5 steers wheels (not shown), and has a rack and pinion structure, for example.

The clutch 6 is interposed between an outer end of the steering shaft 1 and an input shaft of the steering gear box 5 (pinion shaft or the like, reference numeral omitted), and connects the steering shaft 1 and the input shaft of the steering gear box 5. It is to connect or disconnect.

The steering actuator 7 drives the steering gear box 5 and has, for example, a motor and a speed reduction mechanism, which are not shown in detail.

The reaction force actuator 8 applies a reaction force torque corresponding to the steering of the steering wheel 2 to the steering shaft 1. Although not shown in detail, the reaction force actuator 8 has, for example, a motor, a reduction mechanism, and the like.

The actuating part 9 inflates the airbag 4 by generating a large amount of gas in the airbag 4 and deploys it in a three-dimensional shape.

The controller 10 is a function realization unit of a generally known control unit (Electronic Control Unit: ECU). The control device includes a central processing unit (CPU), a non-volatile storage device (Read Only Memory: ROM), a temporary storage device (Random Access Memory: RAM), and the like.

The ROM stores various control programs, maps referred to when executing the various control programs, and the like. The CPU executes arithmetic processing based on various control programs and maps stored in the ROM. The RAM is a memory for temporarily storing a calculation result of the CPU, data input from each sensor, and the like.

The controller 10 executes at least a steering process for the wheels and a deployment process for the airbag 4.

The steering process controls the steering actuator 7 and the reaction force actuator 8 to steer the wheels based on the output from the steering angle sensor 11.

In the deployment process, when it is determined that the airbag 4 needs to be deployed based on the output of the impact sensor 12, the clutch 6 is disengaged before the airbag 4 is deployed, and then the steering wheel 2 is placed at the steering neutral position. The reaction force actuator 8 is controlled as described above, and then the operation unit 9 is controlled to deploy the airbag 4. In other words, in consideration of the fact that the non-circular steering wheel 2 and the irregularly shaped airbag 4 are used in this deployment process, such a steering wheel 2 and airbag 4 are used to receive the driver in an optimal state. It is to ensure the posture of protection.

The steering angle sensor 11 detects the steering angle of the steering wheel 2. The impact sensor 12 detects an impact load received by the vehicle due to the collision of the vehicle. The impact sensor 12 is, for example, an acceleration sensor, and although not shown in detail, it is attached to predetermined positions such as front, rear, left and right, and up and down of the vehicle, and the acceleration and deceleration applied to the attachment position. Generates an electrical output corresponding to the size of.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the function realizing means of the expansion processing by the controller 10 includes a collision judging means 21, a expansion judging means 22, a expanding means 23 and the like.

The collision determination means 21 determines the presence or absence of a vehicle collision based on the output from the impact sensor 12.

The deployment determination means 22 determines whether or not the airbag 4 needs to be deployed when the collision determination means 21 determines that there is a collision.

The expansion unit 23 executes the expansion process when the expansion determination unit 22 determines that the expansion is necessary.

Next, the operation when the airbag 4 is deployed due to a vehicle collision will be described.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the vehicle collides with another vehicle or an obstacle while the steering wheel 2 is steered to the right by a predetermined angle, the collision determination means 21 determines that there is a collision, and further the deployment determination means. When it is determined in step 22 that deployment is necessary, the deployment means 23 controls the reaction force actuator 8 so that the steering wheel 2 is placed in the steering neutral position after disengaging the clutch 6 before deploying the airbag 4. After that, the operation unit 9 is controlled so as to deploy the airbag 4.

As a result, by arranging the steering wheel 2 at the steering neutral position, the deployed airbag 4 becomes ready to stably receive the airbag 4 by the steering wheel 2 and the pad 3, as shown in FIG. 4, for example. Therefore, it becomes possible to receive the driver with the airbag 4 wrapped around it.

As is clear from the above description, it can be said that the clutch 6, the reaction force actuator 8 and the controller 10 constitute the preparation unit described in the claims.

As described above, according to the vehicle steering system of the present invention, when the airbag 4 is deployed due to the collision of the vehicle, the non-circular steering wheel 2 is arranged at the steering neutral position before the deployment. Therefore, when the airbag 4 is deployed, the portion of the airbag 4 that is deployed in the upper region of the pad 3 and has a large expansion amount faces the upper body of the driver.

As a result, even if the steering wheel 2 has a non-circular shape and the airbag 4 having a deformed shape suitable for the steering wheel 2, the airbag 4 is in a position to receive and protect the driver in an optimal state in the event of a vehicle collision. It becomes possible to do.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the claims and a range equivalent to the scope.

In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the steering wheel 2 has a semicircular shape is given, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the steering wheel 2 may have an annular shape such as a horizontally long rectangle like a control stick of an airplane.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be utilized suitably for the steering device for vehicles.

1 Steering shaft 2 Steering wheel 3 Pad 4 Airbag
41 Rear panel
42 Side panel
43 front panel 5 steering gear box 6 clutch 7 steering actuator 8 reaction force actuator 9 operating part 10 controller 11 steering angle sensor 12 impact sensor 21 collision determination means 22 deployment determination means 23 deployment means

Claims (1)

In the steering neutral position, a non-circular steering wheel having no grip in the upper region of the rotation center,
A pad that is arranged at the center of rotation of the steering wheel and that has an inner end of the steering shaft connected to rotate integrally,
A deformed airbag in which the amount of expansion in the vehicle front-rear direction of the part that is housed in the pad and that expands to the upper side of the pad at the steering neutral position is larger than the expansion amount of the other expanded parts. ,
An operating unit for deploying the airbag according to a request,
A steering device for a vehicle, comprising: a preparatory unit for arranging the steering wheel at the steering neutral position before deploying the airbag with the actuating unit.

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