JP2555976Y2 - Steering wheel device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel device used for a steering system of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A horn pad is provided at a center portion of a steering wheel of an automobile. When a horn pad is pushed by a hand, a horn switch circuit is turned on and a horn sounds. As a material for the horn pad, a relatively soft semi-hard resin such as urethane foam is used to protect the driver in the event of a collision or the like.

For example, in a conventional steering wheel device 1 shown in FIG. 9, a horn pad 3 made of a semi-hard resin is provided on an upper surface side (a side facing a driver) of a wheel core 2. A horn pad insert 4 made of a relatively hard resin is integrally polymerized on the back side of the horn pad insert. A horn bracket 6 having a movable contact 5 is attached to the horn pad insert 4.

In the above conventional apparatus 1, when an impact test using a headform as shown in FIG. 8 is performed, a horn pad insert 4 made of a hard resin is used.
Sometimes acted as a substantially rigid body and could not sufficiently absorb energy. In the head impact test, G was generated when a headform weighing 6.8 kg was hit against the steering wheel center at a speed of 24.1 km / h or more.
However, it must be 120G or less at the maximum, and 80G or less at the 3msec level.

The inventor has developed an improved steering wheel device 1 'as shown in FIG. In this steering wheel device 1 ′, a horn pad insert 7 made of an iron plate is provided on the back surface of the horn pad 3, and an energy absorbing plate 8 made of an iron plate is fixed to the horn pad insert 7. The horn bracket 10 is attached to the fastening bracket 9 fixed to the horn pad insert 7.

[0006]

The above-mentioned steering wheel device 1 'can exert a good energy absorbing effect, but it is necessary to mount a resin fastening bracket 9 to the iron plate horn pad insert 7 by rivets or the like. In addition, since the energy absorbing plate 8 also needs to be assembled to the horn pad insert 7 by rivets or the like, there is room for improvement, for example, the production is troublesome and the number of parts is relatively large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel device capable of effectively absorbing energy at the time of collision, having a small number of parts, and being easy to assemble.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The steering wheel device according to the present invention, which has been developed to achieve the above object, comprises a wheel mandrel, which is disposed on the driver side of the wheel mandrel and is in contact with the wheel mandrel. A horn pad made of semi-rigid resin that is movably held in the separating direction, and the horn pad described above.
A resin horn pad insert having an opening portion and the central portion is provided in a state superimposed on the back side of the horn pad made of synthetic resin harder than said horn
A flat-shaped mounting base fixed to the pad side and this mounting base
One extending from both ends of the mounting base toward the wheel core
A metal energy absorbing plate having a pair of legs.
On the back of the horn pad
Extend parallel to each other in the area inside the insert opening
Locking part consisting of a ridge with grooves on the sides facing each other
And forming one of the energy absorbing plates
"Ku" plastically deforms due to the load at the time of collision on the pair of legs
A curved portion is provided and the tip of the pair of legs is provided.
Bend in the direction facing each other,
Attach the energy absorbing plate to the groove of the pair of locking parts
By fitting both side edges of the base,
Hold the mounting base to hold it
Position of the end face of the tip of the part away from the wheel core
Characterized in that they face each other.

[0009]

[Function] When a large load in the direction of pressing the horn pad is applied, such as in a head form impact test or a frontal collision, the energy is supplied to a horn pad made of a semi-hard resin, that is, a resin softer than the horn pad insert. The energy is transmitted to the energy absorbing plate via the radiating plate, and the energy absorbing plate is plastically deformed, so that part of the energy is absorbed.

There is an opening in the center of the horn pad insert, and the locking base provided in the opening holds the mounting base of the energy absorbing plate on the horn pad. The transferred load is transmitted to the energy absorbing plate without passing through the hard horn pad insert.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The automobile steering wheel device 11 shown in FIG. 1 includes a metal wheel core 12 using an iron core or the like, and a horn pad 13 made of a semi-hard resin. The wheel mandrel 12 has a center boss 1 into which the tip of a steering shaft (not shown) is inserted.
5, a spoke portion 16 extending radially from the center boss portion 15, and an annular rim portion 17.

A lower cover 20 made of synthetic resin is fixed to the back surface of the spoke portion 16 by screws 21.
A slip ring 22 is provided concentrically with the center boss 15 at the center of the lower cover 20. The distal end portion of the spoke portion 16 and the rim portion 17 are covered with a semi-hard covering material 23 such as soft vinyl chloride or urethane foam.

A bush 26 having a flange 25 is fixed by screws 27 on the upper surface of the spoke portion 16 of the wheel core 12. A return spring 28 using a coil spring or the like is provided on the outer periphery of the bush 26. In the vicinity of the bush 26, a fixed contact 29 that forms a part of the horn switch circuit is provided.

The horn pad 13 is disposed on the upper surface of the wheel core 12, that is, on the side facing the driver. The pad body 13a of the horn pad 13 is made of a semi-rigid synthetic resin such as soft polyvinyl chloride or a relatively high-density polyurethane foam.

A horn pad insert 30 is integrally formed on the back side of the horn pad 13. The material of the horn pad insert 30 is a synthetic resin harder than the horn pad 13, for example, an ABS resin. As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the planar shape of the horn pad insert 30 generally corresponds to the contour of the horn pad 13, but an opening portion 31 is provided at the center of the horn pad insert 30, that is, at a portion corresponding to the steering center. Is provided.

As means for integrating the horn pad insert 30 with the horn pad 13, for example, the pad body 1
At the time of molding 3a, a method is adopted in which the horn pad insert 30 is set in advance in the mold and the pad body 13a is integrally molded. Note that the pad body 13a and the horn pad insert 30 may be manufactured in a separate process and then fixed to each other with an adhesive.

On the back side of the horn pad insert 30,
A fastening projection 34 having a connecting hook 33 is integrally formed. Using the fastening projections 34,
The horn bracket 40 is fixed to the horn pad 13. That is, the receiving hole 41 is provided in the horn bracket 40, and the horn bracket 40 is detachably held on the horn pad insert 30 by fitting the fastening projection 34 into the receiving hole 41.

A contact plate 45 is fixed to the horn bracket 40 by screws 46. A movable contact 47 that forms part of the horn switch circuit is provided on the contact plate 45. Movable contact 47
Is opposed to the fixed side contact 29 and the horn pad 13
When the horn bracket 40 is pressed, the horn bracket 40 comes in contact with the fixed contact 29.

The bush 26 is inserted into a through hole 50 formed in the horn bracket 40. The horn bracket 40 is configured to be movable within a predetermined stroke range in the axial direction of the bush 26, that is, in the direction in which the horn bracket 40 comes into contact with and separates from the wheel core 12. The return spring 28 urges the horn bracket 40 in a direction in which the movable contact 47 is separated from the fixed contact 29.

At the center of the horn pad 13, that is, at the location where the opening 31 of the horn pad insert 30 is provided, a pair of locking portions 51, 52 are formed parallel to each other on the back side of the horn pad 13. . As shown in FIG. 3, the locking portions 51 and 52 have a hook-like cross section, and grooves 53 and 54 provided in the opposing portions thereof.
And an energy absorbing plate 5 made of a metal plate such as an iron plate.
5 are detachably fitted and held.

As shown in FIG. 1, the energy absorbing plate 55 is accommodated in a space 56 between the horn pad 13 and the wheel core 12. An example of the thickness of the energy absorbing plate 55 is about 1.2 mm to 1.6 mm.

As shown in FIG. 3, the energy absorbing plate 55 has a flat mounting base 60 and a pair of left-right symmetrical legs 6 rising from both sides of the mounting base 60.
1 is provided. The front and rear edges of the mounting base 60 are detachably fitted to the locking portions 51 and 52. An example of the length L1 of the locking portions 51 and 52 is 50 mm, and an example of the length L2 of the mounting base 60 is 55 mm.

The leg portion 61 extends near the center boss portion 15 of the wheel core 12 or toward the spoke portion 16. An intermediate bent portion 65 formed in a “C” shape is provided at a longitudinally intermediate portion of the leg portion 61. Terminal bent portions 66 and 67 are provided on the base end side and the distal end side of the leg portion 61, respectively.

An inwardly facing flange-shaped distal end portion 68 is provided at the distal end side of the terminal bent portion 67, that is, at a portion facing the wheel cored bar 12. The tip portion 68 is bent such that its end face 68a is substantially parallel to the wheel core 12. The end face 68a of the tip portion 68 is located at a distance L from the wheel core 12 except in a normal state, that is, at the time of a collision.

Next, the operation of the steering wheel device 11 having the above configuration will be described. When the horn pad 13 is pressed by hand, the horn switch circuit is closed by the movable contact 47 being in contact with the fixed contact 29, and the horn sounds. When the horn pad 13 is released, the return spring 2
With the elasticity of 8, the movable contact 47 separates from the fixed contact 29, and the horn stops sounding.

In the impact test using the headform 70 shown in FIG. 8, when a load corresponding to the time of collision is applied to the horn pad 13 of the apparatus 11 of this embodiment,
When the horn pad 13 and the energy absorbing plate 55 are pressed, the leg 6 of the energy absorbing plate 55
The first tip portion 68 collides with the wheel core 12. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5, the bent portions 65, 66, 67
Is plastically deformed, so that the energy absorbing plate 55 alone has the characteristics shown by the broken line A in FIG. The dashed-dotted line B in FIG. 6 indicates the characteristics of the horn pad 13 and the horn pad insert 30. Solid line C is A,
The characteristic of B is the synthesized characteristic.

As can be seen from FIG. 6, at the initial stage of the application of the load, the required supporting load is equal to the energy absorbing plate 55.
In the latter half of the application of the load, the horn pad 13 and the horn pad insert 30 bear the necessary supporting load, so that the combined characteristic C thereof is close to the ideal trapezoidal line. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the impact characteristics also approached a trapezoidal waveform, and a MaxG
The required performance of 80G or less can be satisfied at the level of 120G or less and 3msec.

An opening 31 is provided at the center of the horn pad insert 30 of this embodiment, and the pad body 13 made of a semi-hard resin is provided in the opening 31.
Since only a is in contact with the energy absorbing plate 55, when the collision object collides with the center part of the horn pad 13, it is possible to suppress inconvenient behavior such as the hard horn pad insert 30 being cracked or the collision object being rebounded.

Further, in the energy absorbing plate 55 of this embodiment, the tip portion 68 of the leg 61 is separated from the wheel core 12 in the state before the collision, and the tip portion 68 of the leg 61 is Bending part 6 after touching
5, 66, 67 undergoes plastic deformation.
When such a deformation behavior is caused, it is easier to plastically deform into a shape having a high energy absorption effect at the time of a collision than in the case where the energy absorbing plate 55 is fixed to the wheel mandrel 12, and it is effective with a short stroke. The energy is absorbed.

The energy absorbing plate 55 of this embodiment
Since the mounting base 60 is detachably fitted and held by the locking portions 51 and 52 provided on the pad body 13a,
Energy absorbing plate 55 for horn pad 13
Has a simple mounting structure and a small number of parts, and is easy to manufacture. Since the fastening projections 34 can be integrally formed with the horn pad insert 30 made of resin, the horn bracket 40 can be attached with one touch, and the assembling property is good.

[0031]

According to the steering wheel device of the present invention, a large load is applied in the direction of pressing the horn pad.
Sometimes, the energy comes from a hard horn pad insert
Energy absorption via soft horn pad without intervention
Transmitted to the plate. Installation of this energy absorbing plate
The base is a pair of locks integrally formed on the back of the horn pad
The energy absorption
Move the end face of the tip of the rate leg away from the wheel core
Can be held in a floating state. This
The energy absorbing plate with a structure like
Indicates that the tip of the leg is away from the wheel core,
Sometimes the tip of the leg contacts the wheel mandrel before bending
Behaves plastically. Such deformation
If this occurs, remove the energy absorbing plate.
Compared to the case where it is fixed to a wheel core,
Easy to plastically deform into a shape with high energy absorption, short
Energy is effectively absorbed by the stroke. Moreover
Both sides of the flat mounting base of the energy absorbing plate
The edge part is a part of the horn pad.
Therefore, the legs are collapsed because they are held
When the horn pad is part of the mounting base and wheel
It can be interposed between the metal core and the mounting base.
Without the use of hard protrusions such as screws and rivets.
Fixed to the pad, preventing head damage in the event of a collision
More effective above. Therefore , energy can be effectively absorbed with a limited stroke, safety is high, the structure is simple, and the number of parts is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a steering wheel device showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the steering wheel device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part of a horn pad and an energy absorbing plate used in the steering wheel device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a deformation behavior of the energy absorbing plate shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing static characteristics when a load is applied to the steering wheel device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view showing impact characteristics of the steering wheel device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a side view conceptually showing an apparatus for performing a head impact test.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a conventional steering wheel device.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a prior art steering wheel device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: Steering wheel device, 12: Wheel core, 13: Horn pad, 13a: Pad body, 30:
Horn pad insert, 31: Opening portion, 40: Horn bracket, 51, 52: Locking portion, 55: Energy absorbing plate, 60: Mounting base, 61: Leg.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A semi-rigid wheel core (12), which is arranged on the driver side of the wheel core (12) and is held so as to be movable in a direction of coming into contact with and separating from the wheel core (12). A resin horn pad (13) and a synthetic resin that is provided in a state of being superimposed on the back side of the horn pad (13) and has an opening (31) in the center and is harder than the horn pad (13) A horn pad insert (30) made of resin, a flat mounting base (60) fixed to the horn pad (13) side, and the wheel core (12) from both ends of the mounting base (60). A metal energy absorbing plate (55) having a pair of legs (61) extending toward the inside, and a back surface of the horn pad (13) inside an opening (31) of the horn pad insert (30). Locks consisting of ridges extending parallel to each other and having grooves (53, 54) on the sides facing each other (51, 52) is formed, and the pair of leg portions of the energy absorbing plate (55) (61)
The horn pad (13) is provided with a `` C ''-shaped bent portion (65) that is plastically deformed by a load at the time of a collision, and bends the tip portions (68) of the pair of legs (61) in directions facing each other. ) Of the pair of locking portions (51, 52)
54) Attachment base (60) of energy absorption plate (55)
By engaging both side edges of the above-mentioned locking portion (51, 52)
Are held so as to hold the mounting base (60), and the end surface (68a) of the tip portion (68) of the leg (61) is opposed to a position distant from the wheel core (12). Steering wheel device.