JP2519660Y2 - Automotive steering device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention provides a support member for supporting a pad portion or the like arranged substantially in the center of a steering wheel in a non-rotating state despite steering of the steering wheel. The present invention relates to a steering device for an automobile configured as follows.

(Prior Art) In a vehicle steering apparatus having a non-rotating pad portion arranged substantially in the center of a steering wheel, the applicant of the present application first mentioned that a gear mechanism for transmitting a rotational displacement of the steering wheel to a steering shaft. The rotatably supporting the steering wheel disposed inside the boss portion on the vehicle body side member, and the supporting member located substantially in the center of the steering wheel to the vehicle body side member by the connecting member inserted inside the boss portion. An application has been filed for a fixed steering device for automobiles (Application No. 1-98767).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In this type of device, since the steering wheel and the supporting member are separately supported by the steering shaft which is stably supported by a long span, the steering wheel and the supporting member are not supported. It is desired to support the member in a stable state without rattling.

An object of the present invention is to provide a steering device for an automobile, which can prevent the steering wheel and the supporting member from rattling and can stably support the steering wheel and the supporting member.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention was devised to solve the above problems, and includes a steering wheel that has an annular boss portion and is rotatably supported by a vehicle body-side member, and A gear mechanism that is arranged inside the boss portion and is configured to be able to transmit the rotation operation amount of the steering wheel to the steering shaft,
A connecting member fixed to the vehicle body side member and having a tip penetrating through the boss portion and protruding toward the steering wheel side;
A steering device including a support member that is supported by the tip of the connecting member and that is located approximately in the center of the steering wheel, in a bearing that allows relative rotation between the support member and the boss. The supporting member is elastically supported by the connecting member relative to the connecting member so as to apply a preload to the bearing rigidly in the rotational direction about the axis of the boss and in the sliding direction. A steering device for an automobile characterized by the above.

(Operation) According to the present invention, the boss portion of the steering wheel, which is rotatably supported by the vehicle body side member, is also rotatably supported by the support member by the bearing, so that the boss portion has a large supporting span. Therefore, the steering wheel can be supported in a stable state.

Further, since the supporting member is elastically supported with respect to the connecting member in the rotational direction about the axis of the boss portion and elastically in the sliding direction so as to apply a preload to the bearing, It is possible to prevent play of the bearing provided between the support member and the bearing, and it is possible to sufficiently exhibit the performance of the bearing, thereby preventing rattling of the steering wheel and the support member,
In addition, the steering wheel and the support member can be supported in a stable state.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

 1 and 2 show the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, one end of a substantially pipe-shaped column housing 2 is fitted to the upper end of a pipe-shaped steering column 1 mounted on the vehicle body side. A steering shaft 3 is inserted in the steering column 1, and the upper end of the steering shaft 3 is rotatably supported by the other end of the column housing 2 via a ball bearing 4. A pinion gear 5 is formed on the upper end of the steering shaft 3. The pinion gear 5 is meshed with the teeth of a ring gear 7a provided on the inner peripheral surface of the boss portion 7 of the steering wheel 6 in an eccentric state. In this case, the gear mechanism B that transmits the rotational operation amount of the steering wheel 6 to the steering shaft 3 is composed of the pinion gear 5 and the ring gear 7a. Further, a connection flange portion 8 for connecting the steering wheel 6 is formed on the upper end portion of the boss portion 7. The steering wheel 6 is provided with a plurality of spokes 6a extending inward. These spokes
A space between the inner ends of 6a is connected to a substantially ring-shaped connecting ring 6b. The connecting flange portion 8 of the boss portion 7 and the connecting ring 6b are integrally connected to each other at a plurality of circumferential positions by fixing bolts 9. Further, the boss portion 7 is rotatably supported on the inner peripheral surface of a substantially cylindrical gear housing 11 fixed to the upper end portion of the column housing 2 by a connecting bolt 10 via a pair of upper and lower ball bearings 12 and 13. . A bearing holding portion 14 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the gear housing 11 at the end portion on the column housing 2 side so as to contact the end surface of the outer ring 13a of the ball bearing 13. Further, a female screw portion 15 is formed on the upper end portion of the inner peripheral surface of the gear housing 11, and the lock nut 1 for axially pressing the outer ring 12a of the ball bearing 12 is formed on the female screw portion 15.
6 is screwed on. On the other hand, on the outer periphery of the boss portion 7, a snap ring 18 that comes into contact with the end surface of the inner ring 12b of the bearing 12 is provided.
Is attached, and a snap ring is attached to the outer periphery of the boss 7.
A spacer 17 is fitted between the bearing 18 and the inner ring 13b of the bearing 13.

In other words, the adjusting mechanism is capable of adjusting the axial distance between the outer rings 12a and 13a of the ball bearings 12 and 13, that is, the preload of the bearings 12 and 13 as the lock nut 16 is screwed.

The pad portion 22 arranged substantially in the center of the steering wheel 6 is fixed to the gear housing 11 side by a method described later. That is, the pad mounting bracket 23 is fixed to the bottom surface of the pad portion 22. The pad mounting bracket 23 is fixed to the support member 25 with bolts 26.

On the other hand, a protruding portion 28 protruding toward the pinion gear 5 side is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the end portion of the gear housing 11 on the column housing 2 side. The protruding portion 28 is the pinion gear 5
And the ring gear 7a are opposed to the space A in the axial direction. The space A is a gap formed between the gear mechanism B and the boss 7. Furthermore, this protruding portion 28
A fixing bolt 29 as a connecting member is fixed by press fitting, and the other end of the fixing bolt 29 is inserted into the space portion A to support the support member 25. The other end of the fixing bolt 29 penetrates the bolt insertion hole 30 and the bracket 23 formed in the support member 25 and projects toward the steering wheel 6 side, as shown in detail in FIG. The fixing bolt 29
Although not shown, two support members 25 are rigidly supported in the rotational direction of the boss portion 7 with respect to the two fixing bolts 29, by providing two with a gap therebetween in the vehicle width direction.
A small-diameter screw portion 29a is formed at the tip of the protruding portion of the fixing bolt 29, and the fixing nut 32 is attached to the screw portion 29a.
An elastic member 31 such as a disc spring, a wave washer, rubber, or rigid resin is interposed between the fixed nut 32 and the bracket 23. In the present embodiment, the fixing nut 32 is screwed to the screw portion 29a formed at the tip of the fixing bolt 29, but this ensures that the fixing nut 32 is positioned and fixed to the fixing bolt 29. This is because it was made possible. Therefore, it is possible to simply use a double nut without reducing the diameter of the screw portion 29a.

Further, a large-diameter bearing mounting portion 27 is formed at the end of the boss portion 7 on the side of the connecting flange portion 8, and a ball bearing is provided between the bearing mounting portion 27 and the support member 25.
24 is installed. The boss portion 7 is configured to be rotatable independently of the pad portion support bracket 25 when the steering wheel 6 is rotated. The outer ring 24a of the bearing 24 is fixed to the bearing mounting portion 27, and the inner ring 24b of the bearing 24 is fixed to the support member 25 by press fitting or the like so that they cannot rotate and cannot slide. As a result, the elastic force of the elastic member 31 applies a preload to the bearing 24, that is, the support member 25 applies a preload to the bearing 24 with respect to the fixing bolt 29 in the axial direction of the boss portion 7. It is elastically supported.

 Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

First, when the steering wheel 6 is rotated, the boss portion 7 rotates integrally with the steering wheel 6. As the boss portion 7 rotates, the steering shaft 3 rotates in the same direction as the steering wheel 6 via a pinion gear 5 that is eccentrically engaged with a ring gear 7a formed on the inner periphery of the boss portion 7. To be done.
Therefore, the rotational operation force of the steering wheel 6 is transmitted to the steering shaft 3 via the gear mechanism B, and the vehicle is steered.

The pad portion 22 located substantially in the center of the steering wheel 6 has a fixing bolt 29, one end of which is fixed to the protruding portion 28 of the gear housing 11, and a space portion A formed between the gear mechanism and the boss portion. And the other end is fixed to the nut member 32 by penetrating the support member 25 that rotatably supports the boss portion 7 via the ball bearing 24 and the pad mounting bracket 23. At any time, this support member 25 can be held in a non-rotating state.

Further, the boss portion 7 is rotatably supported by the gear housing 11 by the bearings 12 and 13, and the bearing 24
Since it is rotatably supported also by the support member 25, the support span of the boss portion 7 can be made large, and thus the steering wheel 6 can be supported in a stable state. Moreover, since the elastic member 31 is interposed between the fixing nut 32 screwed to the fixing bolt 29 for fixing the supporting member 25 to the gear housing 11 side and the supporting member 25, the elastic deformation of the elastic member 31 is performed. With this, it is possible to prevent the ball bearing 24 from playing and also to give an appropriate preload to the ball bearing 24.
24 performance can be fully demonstrated. Therefore, rattling of the steering wheel 6 and the support member 25 can be prevented, and the steering wheel 6 and the support member 25 can be stably supported.

Next, the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be described.
The same members as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the gear mechanism B arranged inside the boss portion 7 is of a planetary gear type as described later. That is, an intermediate gear 33 that meshes with both teeth is interposed between the pinion gear 5 provided on the steering shaft 3 and the ring gear 7a formed on the inner circumference of the boss portion 7. Then, a fixing bolt 29 fixed to the protruding portion 28 of the gear housing 11 attached to the vehicle body side.
Rotatably supports the intermediate gear 33, and its tip portion penetrates the support member 25. And the fixing bolt 29
The small nut 29a provided on the tip of the
Is also screwed, and the elastic member 31 is also interposed between the fixed nut 32 and the support member 25.

As described above, even in the steering device in which the gear mechanism B is of the planetary gear type as shown in FIG. 3, the supporting span of the boss portion 7 can be made large as in the first embodiment, whereby the steering is performed. The wheel 6 can be supported in a stable state. In addition, the play of the bearing 24 provided between the inner periphery of the boss portion 7 and the support member 25 can be prevented, and an appropriate preload is applied to the bearing 24 so that the performance of the bearing 24 can be sufficiently exhibited. Therefore, rattling of the steering wheel 6 and the support member 25 can be prevented, and the steering wheel 6 and the support member 25 can be supported in a stable state.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the gear housing 11 has a smaller diameter than the boss portion 7, and the bearings 12 and 13 are provided between the inner circumference of the boss portion 7 and the outer circumference of the gear housing 11. The support member 25 and the boss 7
It is of course possible to provide an annular flange having a larger diameter than that and to provide the bearing 24 between the flange and the outer periphery of the boss portion 7, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. is there.

(Effect of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the supporting span of the boss portion can be made large, and the play of the bearing provided between the inner periphery of the boss portion and the supporting member can be increased. In addition, it is possible to prevent the steering wheel and the support member from exerting sufficient performance by giving an appropriate preload to the bearing, thereby preventing rattling of the steering wheel and the supporting member, and The steering wheel and the support member can be supported in a stable state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an essential part showing a screwing state of a fixing bolt and a fixing nut, and FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration of a second embodiment according to the present invention. It is a figure. 1 ... Steering column, 2 ... Column housing, 3 ...
… Steering shaft, 5 …… Pinion gear, 6 …… Steering wheel, 7 …… Boss part, 7a …… Ring gear, 11…
… Gear housing, 12,13,24 …… Bearing, 22 …… Pad part, 25 …… Supporting member, 29 …… Fixing bolt, 31 …… Elastic member, 32 …… Fixing nut, A …… Space part, B ...... Gear mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A steering wheel, which has an annular boss portion and is rotatably supported by a vehicle body-side member, and a rotation operation amount of the steering wheel, which is disposed inside the boss portion and can be transmitted to a steering shaft. A configured gear mechanism, a connecting member fixed to the vehicle body side member and having a tip penetrating through the boss portion and protruding toward the steering wheel, and a substantially central portion of the steering wheel supported by the tip portion of the connecting member. In a steering device including a support member located at a position, a bearing that allows relative rotation between the support member and the boss portion is interposed between the support member and the boss portion, and the support member is connected to the connecting member. The bearing is elastically supported so as to apply a preload to the bearing in a rotating direction with respect to the axis of the boss portion and in a sliding direction with respect to the axis. Automotive steering system that.