JP2021037791A - Steering column unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a steering column unit characterized in that a regulation member which is intended for withdrawal before the steering column unit is installed in a vehicle body can be used for another purpose after being attached.SOLUTION: A steering column unit includes an upper jacket 12 that is engaged to be able to relatively slide in an axial direction and supports a steering shaft so that the steering shaft can freely rotate, a lower jacket 16, and a regulation member. The regulation member includes a head 51, a trunk 52 extending from the head 51, and legs 53 extending from the trunk 52. The trunk 52 and legs 53 of the regulation member are inserted into a hole 16a formed in the lower jacket 16, and rotated in order to tightly secure the lower jacket 16. Thus, the regulation member is fixed to the lower jacket 16 with the head 51 of the regulation member jutted out of the lower jacket 16.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present application relates to a steering column device having a telescopic function and moving to the front of the vehicle body to alleviate an impact in the event of a secondary collision.

Patent Document 1 describes a steering device having an outer tube and a lower tube fitted via a retainer so as to be relatively slidable, that is, telescopically slidable.

In such a conventional steering device, for example, when the lock mechanism is released in the state of the steering device alone before being attached to the vehicle, even if both tubes are about to be separated from each other, they are attached to the outer tube in a fixed state. The regulating member comes into contact with a predetermined portion in the axial direction of the retainer to prevent the two tubes from being separated from each other.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-21321

However, in the above-mentioned conventional steering device, the regulating member is provided only for the purpose of preventing both tubes from separating from each other when the steering device is in a single state before being attached to the vehicle, and the steering device is attached to the vehicle. Once installed, it is no longer needed.

An object of the present application is to provide a steering column device capable of being used for other purposes even after mounting a restricting member provided for the purpose of detachment before mounting on a vehicle body.

In order to achieve the above object, the steering column device according to claim 1 is fitted so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and includes a steering column including an upper jacket, a lower jacket, and a regulating member that rotatably support the steering shaft. The device, the regulating member, has a head, a body extending from the head, and legs extending from the body, and the body of the regulating member is inserted into a hole made in the lower jacket. It is characterized in that the regulating member is fixed to the lower jacket with the head of the regulating member protruding from the lower jacket by inserting and rotating the portion and the leg to narrowly wear the lower jacket.

The steering column device according to claim 2 is the steering column device according to claim 1, wherein the regulating member is made of resin.

The steering column device according to claim 3 is the steering column device according to claim 1, wherein the regulating member is made of metal.

The steering column device according to claim 4 is the steering column device according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the regulating member adjusts the amount of energy absorbed in the case of a secondary collision according to the thickness of the body portion. It is characterized by having done it.

According to the steering column device according to claim 1, one regulating member plays both a role of restricting the lower jacket from being separated from the upper jacket and a role of absorbing energy in the event of a secondary collision. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the manufacturing cost of the steering column device.

Further, according to the steering column device according to claim 4, the magnitude of energy absorbed in the case of a secondary collision can be easily adjusted only by changing the thickness of the body portion of the regulating member. ..

It is a perspective view which shows the appearance of a part of the structure included in the steering column apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this application. It is a perspective view which shows the state of inserting the resin pin into the lower jacket included in the structure of FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure which removed the upper bracket from the structure of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view ((a)) along the line PP of FIG. 3, a partially enlarged view ((b)) of the cross-sectional view, and a perspective view ((c)) of the resin pin.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a part of the configuration of the steering column device according to the embodiment of the present application. The steering column device of the present embodiment has a tilt function and a telescopic function, but the present invention is made to solve a problem that occurs when the telescopic function is provided, and therefore the tilt function is not mentioned. .. In addition, when referring to a direction in FIGS. 1 to 4, the direction of the arrow shown in each figure shall be used. However, the front-rear direction is the axial direction.

The steering column device of this embodiment includes a steering column 10 as shown in FIG. The steering column 10 is mainly composed of an upper shaft 11 and a lower shaft 15, and an upper jacket 12 and a lower jacket 16 that rotatably support the upper shaft 11 and the lower shaft 15, respectively. A steering wheel (not shown) is attached to the tip of the upper shaft 11.

The upper shaft 11 and the upper jacket 12, and the lower shaft 15 and the lower jacket 16 are configured to be relatively slidable as shown in FIG. 4A, and the steering column 10 is configured to be expandable and contractible in the front-rear direction as a whole. Has been done.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper bracket 30 is attached to the upper jacket 12. The upper bracket 30 is for fixing the upper jacket 12 to the vehicle body (not shown). That is, the upper jacket 12 is attached to the vehicle body via the upper bracket 30.

On the other hand, the lower bracket 40 is also attached to the lower jacket 16, and the lower jacket 16 is also attached to the vehicle body via the lower bracket 40.

When the steering column 10 is attached to the vehicle body via the upper bracket 30 and the lower bracket 40, the telescopic function is mainly realized via the upper jacket 12, so that the telescopic mechanism for realizing the telescopic function is the upper. It is provided around the jacket 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lock bolt 26 is inserted into the upper jacket 12. At this time, the lock bolt 26 is also inserted into the elongated hole 20a (see FIG. 1) of the friction plate 20. By tightening or loosening the lock bolt 26 with an operating lever (not shown), a plurality of friction plates including the friction plate 20 are brought into contact with or separated from the upper jacket 12 to lock or release the telesco function. Can be done.

Then, in conjunction with the lock of the telesco function, the telesco pole 24 pushes down the pressing portion 22 and presses the upper jacket 12, thereby suppressing rattling between the upper jacket 12 and the lower jacket 16. I am trying to do it.

As shown in FIG. 2, a hole 16a for inserting and rotating the resin pin 50 and fixing it on the lower jacket 16 is provided at a predetermined position of the lower jacket 16. When the resin pin 50 is in a single state before the steering column device of the present embodiment is attached to the vehicle body, the lower jacket 16 is detached from the upper jacket 12 even if the telescopic function is unintentionally unlocked. It plays a role in regulating things.

The resin pin 50 includes a semi-cylindrical head 51, a columnar body 52 extending downward from the bottom surface of the head 51, and tapered legs extending laterally from the body 52. It is composed of 53 and. The hole 16a of the lower jacket 16 is formed so that the body portion 52 and both leg portions 53 of the resin pin 50 can be inserted with both leg portions 53 facing in the front-rear direction. Therefore, when the resin pin 50 is inserted into the hole 16a with both leg portions 53 facing in the front-rear direction and then rotated by 90 °, the resin pin 50 is formed on the bottom surface of the head 51 and the upper surface of both leg portions 53. , The lower jacket 16 is narrowly worn and fixed on the lower jacket 16. As a result, the head 51 of the resin pin 50 protrudes from the surface of the lower jacket 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, the resin pin 50 is fixed to the lower jacket 16 in a state where the lower jacket 16 and the upper jacket 12 are fitted to each other. However, FIG. 3 shows a state after the resin pin 50 is fixed to the lower jacket 16.

In this way, after the resin pin 50 is fixed to the lower jacket 16 with the lower jacket 16 and the upper jacket 12 fitted, the telescopic function is unlocked against the intention of the operator, for example, and the lower jacket is released. It is assumed that 16 slides away from the upper jacket 12 in the detaching direction. In FIG. 4A, sliding the lower jacket 16 away from the upper jacket 12 means that the lower jacket 16 slides forward. In this case, since the resin pin 50 moves forward with the movement of the lower jacket 16, the resin pin 50 (head 51) is provided on the upper jacket 12 as shown in FIG. 4 (b). After coming into contact with the pressing portion 22, the lower jacket 16 does not move forward any further. That is, the resin pin 50 can prevent the lower jacket 16 from being separated from the upper jacket 12.

On the other hand, when a secondary collision occurs after the steering column device of the present embodiment is attached to the vehicle body, the upper jacket 12 moves in the forward direction in FIG. 4A. As a result, when the resin pin 50 (head 51) is pressed by the upper jacket 12, the pressing pressure exceeds the pressure required for shearing between the head 51 and the body 52 of the resin pin 50, for example. , In FIG. 4C, the head portion 51 and the body portion 52 are sheared at the portion (52a) indicated by the alternate long and short dash line.

This shearing absorbs energy during a secondary collision and mitigates the impact on the driver. Since the pressing force required for shearing, that is, the load depends on the diameter length of the body 52 of the resin pin 50, the load at the time of shearing can be adjusted by adjusting the diameter length of the body 52, and eventually the secondary collision. The energy absorption capacity at the time of is also adjustable.

As described above, the steering column device of the present embodiment is fitted so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and includes a steering wheel including an upper jacket 12 and a lower jacket 16 that rotatably support the upper shaft 11 and the lower shaft 15. It includes a column 10, a head 51, a body portion 52 extending from the head portion 51, and a resin pin 50 having a leg portion 53 extending from the body portion 52.

Then, in the steering column device of the present embodiment, the body portion 52 and the leg portion 53 of the resin pin 50 are inserted into the holes 16a formed in the lower jacket 16 and rotated, and the leg portions 53 and the head portion 51 of the resin pin 50 are rotated. By narrowing the lower jacket 16 together, the resin pin 50 is fixed to the lower jacket 16 with the head 51 of the resin pin 50 protruding from the upper jacket 16, and the lower jacket 16 is separated from the upper jacket 12. When sliding in the direction, the upper jacket 12 abuts on the head 51 of the resin pin 50 to prevent the lower jacket 16 from being separated from the upper jacket 12, and the steering column 10 is attached to the vehicle body. Later, when a secondary collision occurs, the upper jacket 12 moves to the front of the vehicle body in response to the driver pushing the steering column 10, and the head 51 of the resin pin 50 is sheared from the body 52. By doing so, the energy at the time of the secondary collision is absorbed.

As described above, in the steering column device of the present embodiment, one resin pin 50 has both a role of restricting the lower jacket 16 from being separated from the upper jacket 12 and a role of absorbing energy at the time of a secondary collision. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the manufacturing cost of the steering column device of the present embodiment.

Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the resin pin 50 is an example of a “regulatory member”.

Further, the resin pin 50 adjusts the magnitude of energy absorbed at the time of the secondary collision according to the diameter length of the body portion 52.

Thereby, the magnitude of the energy absorbed at the time of the secondary collision can be easily adjusted only by changing the diameter length of the body portion 52 of the resin pin 50.

By the way, the diameter length is an example of "thickness".

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the resin pin 50 is integrally formed of resin, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the resin pin 50 may be integrally formed of metal.

(2) In the above embodiment, the body portion 52 of the resin pin 50 is formed in a columnar shape, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the body portion 52 may be formed in a polygonal columnar shape.

1 Steering column device 10 Steering column 11 Upper shaft 12 Upper jacket 15 Lower shaft 16 Lower jacket 16a Hole 22 Pressing part 50 Resin pin 51 Head 52 Body 53 Leg

Claims (4)

A steering column device including an upper jacket, a lower jacket, and a regulating member that are fitted so as to be slidable in the axial direction and rotatably support the steering shaft.
The restricting member has a head, a body portion extending from the head portion, and a leg portion extending from the body portion, and the restricting member has a hole formed in the lower jacket. By inserting and rotating the body and the legs to narrow the lower jacket, the restricting member was fixed to the lower jacket with the head of the restricting member protruding from the lower jacket. ,
Steering column device. The steering column device according to claim 1, wherein the regulating member is made of resin. The steering column device according to claim 1, wherein the regulating member is made of metal. The steering column device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the regulating member adjusts the magnitude of energy absorbed at the time of a secondary collision according to the thickness of the body portion.

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