JP2578665Y2 - Steering wheel relay structure - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relay structure of a steering wheel, and more particularly to a relay structure such as a horn switch provided on a steering wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of technique, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 45-22817 is known. In this publication, as shown in FIG. 5, a steering wheel pad (hereinafter referred to as a pad) 32 having a horn switch function is provided at the center of the steering wheel 31. As shown in FIG. 6, the pad 32 is disposed above a boss 35 provided around the boss 34 at the upper end of the steering shaft 33.

[0003] Between the boss 35 and the pad 32,
A coil spring 37 is provided. Normally, the urging force of the coil spring 37 causes the rod-shaped movable contact 39 extending from the support plate 38 on the lower surface of the pad 32 and the boss 3
5 and the fixed contact 40 that is in contact with the contact pin P is separated from each other. When the pad 32 is pressed downward, the support plate 38 and the movable contact 39 are pushed down against the urging force of the coil spring 37, and the tip of the movable contact 39 contacts the fixed contact 40. . Therefore, the movable contact 39 and the fixed contact 40 are electrically connected to each other, and the current from the contact pin P is applied to the fixed contact 40, the movable contact 39, and the support plate 3.
8. Earth ring 4 grounded via coil spring 37
1 and the horn is blown as a result.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional relay structure, at least many members such as the contact pin P, the fixed contact 40, the movable contact 39, the support plate 38, the coil spring 37, and the earth ring 41 are required. This has led to an increase in the number of parts. Therefore, it takes time to attach these components, and the manufacturing cost is high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to reduce the number of parts, simplify the mounting work, and reduce the manufacturing cost. An object of the present invention is to provide a pad relay structure.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a pad arranged above a boss portion of a steering wheel and snap-engaged with the boss portion so as to be vertically movable; A protrusion formed on the pad so as to extend through the boss portion, and a concentrically disposed at a lower portion of the boss portion, one of which has a fixed contact, and one of which is provided on the vehicle body side. was in contact with the contact pins of the power supply during normal becomes and a two metal rings that are spaced apart from one another, of the metal ring, so as to extend in the metal ring top with the fixed contact
The metal ring having no fixed contact has an elastic portion.
Are integrally formed, the elastic portion has a movable contact, 且
One self is summarized as relay structure of a steering wheel to allow an electrical connection between said elastically deformed movable contact and the fixed contacts by the pressing of the projection when the pad is pressed.

[0007]

According to the above construction, the two metal rings are normally separated from each other, and when the pad is pressed, the projection presses the elastic portion, and the elastic portion having the movable contact is elastically deformed. Electrical connection between the movable contact and the fixed contact is allowed.

Further, since the two metal rings are both easily arranged below the boss portion, and one of the metal rings is in contact with the power supply contact pin, it is used as a so-called slip ring, and wiring is performed. In addition, the relay mechanism is simplified.

Further, the pad is snap-engaged with the boss so as to be able to move up and down easily and reliably.

[0010]

According to the relay structure for a steering wheel of the present invention, the number of parts can be reduced, the mounting work can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a steering wheel of a gasoline vehicle will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a relay structure of a steering wheel according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing a state where the steering wheel is viewed from below. In FIG. 1, a steering wheel 1 has a boss 2
And a pad 3 provided thereon. The boss 2 is mounted around a metal boss 5 fixed around the upper end of the steering shaft 4,
The inside thereof is provided with a metal insert 6 to reinforce the boss 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the lower surface of the boss portion 2,
An annular fixed contact and a lower contact ring 7 as a metal ring are fixed at three points by screws 8.
The lower contact ring 7 is in contact with a power supply contact pin P1 provided on the vehicle body side.
The positive electrode is always energized.

In FIG. 1, the pad 3 provided above the boss 2 comprises a pad 9 and a cup 10. A mounting hole 11 is formed on a side surface of the pad portion 9, while a projection 12 is formed on a side surface of the cup portion 10 to protrude. This projection 12 is the mounting hole 1
1, the pad portion 9 becomes the cup portion 1.
It is fixed to 0. Three pins 13 are formed integrally with the cup portion 10 so as to extend downward, as three protruding portions having an enlarged diameter portion 13a at the lower end. On the other hand, the boss portion 2 has three through holes 14 formed therein, and a projection 14a is integrally formed on the inner peripheral surface in the middle of the through hole 14. The pin 13 penetrates through the through hole 14 and is fitted into the boss portion 2.
Is located below the protrusion 14a.
That is, the pad 3 is snap-engaged with the boss portion 2 by the pin 13 so as to be vertically movable.

Above the lower contact ring 7,
An upper contact ring 15 as an annular metal ring is provided at a distance from the lower contact ring 7. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper contact ring 15 is made of metal, and has a plate body 16 having a diameter larger than that of the lower contact ring 7 and three positions so as to be positioned slightly higher than the plate body 16. And an elastic portion formed in an arc shape along the inner periphery of the plate body 16, a leaf spring 17 as a movable contact, and an energizing portion 18 protruding from the plate body 16 toward the center. I have. The upper contact ring 15 is fixed to the boss 2 by a set screw 19 at the root of each leaf spring 17. Also, as shown in FIG.
In the current-carrying portion 18, the screw 20 is
, And the upper contact ring 15 is always grounded via the screw 20, the insert 6 and the boss 5. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end of the pin 13 is in contact with the upper surface of the distal end of the leaf spring 17, and the pad 3 is urged upward by the urging force of the leaf spring 17. .

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In a normal state, the pad 3 is urged upward by a leaf spring 17 integrally formed with the upper contact ring 15, and the electrical connection between the upper contact ring 15 and the lower contact ring 7 is cut off.

On the other hand, when the pad portion 9 of the pad 3 is pressed downward, the leaf spring 17 is elastically deformed against its own urging force, and comes into direct contact with the lower contact ring 7.
At this time, the leaf spring 17 is connected to the upper contact ring 15.
The lower contact ring 7 and the upper contact ring 15 are electrically connected. Therefore, the current from the lower contact ring 7 flows through the leaf spring 17, the upper contact ring 15, the conducting part 18, the screw 20, the insert 6, and the boss 5, and as a result, the horn is blown.

As described in detail above, in this embodiment, since the leaf spring 17 is formed integrally with the upper contact ring 15, the relay structure is mainly composed of only the upper contact ring 15 and the lower contact ring 7. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced, and the mounting work can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

Further, in this embodiment, the upper contact ring 15 having the leaf spring 17 and the conducting portion 18 can be easily formed by stamping a metal plate. Therefore, the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced.

Further, in this embodiment, all of the indispensable components such as the upper contact ring 15 and the lower contact ring 7 for constituting the electric relay structure are attached from the lower surface of the boss portion 2, so that they are mounted. Operability can be improved, and as a result, the mounting operation can be further simplified.

In addition, in this embodiment, since the pad 3 is snap-engaged with the boss portion 2 by the pin 13 so as to be able to move up and down, the pad 3 can be easily and reliably attached.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be configured as follows, for example, without departing from the spirit of the present invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a steering wheel pad of a gasoline-powered vehicle. However, the present invention can be applied to, for example, an electric vehicle. In this case,
The screw 20 may not be provided, that is, the upper contact ring 15 may be connected to the contact pin P2 on the negative electrode side as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 without being grounded.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the three pins 13 are provided on the pad 3 to press the upper contact ring 15, but the shape may be a simple projection instead of a pin. Further, the number is not limited to three, but may be one, two, or four or more.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a relay structure of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an upper contact ring in one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing a state in which the steering wheel is viewed from below in one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a steering wheel for explaining an energizing portion of an upper contact ring in one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a steering wheel in a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a steering wheel in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... steering wheel, 2 ... boss, 3 ... pad,
7: fixed contact, lower contact ring as metal ring, 13: pin as projection, 15: upper contact ring as metal ring, 17: movable contact, leaf spring as elastic part.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-59-79445 (JP, U) JP-A-3-96963 (JP, U) JP-A-3-96964 (JP, U) JP-A 61-182369 (JP) (U, U) Shokai 60-5970 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B62D 1/04 H01R 35/04 B60R 16/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A pad (3) disposed above a boss (2) of a steering wheel (1) and snap-engaged with the boss (2) so as to be vertically movable; A projection (13) formed on the pad (3) so as to extend through 2) and a concentric arrangement below the boss (2), one of which has a fixed contact and One of them is a power supply contact pin (P1) provided on the vehicle body side.
And two metal rings (7, 15) which are normally separated from each other, and are provided above the metal ring (7) having the fixed contact among the metal rings (7, 15). The metal ring (15) having no fixed contact so as to extend has an elastic part (17).
The elastic portion (17) has a movable contact, and when the pad (3) is pressed , the elastic portion (17) is elastically deformed by the pressing of the protruding portion (13) so that the front portion is deformed. br /> Symbol this to allow an electrical connection between the movable contact and the fixed contact
And a relay structure for the steering wheel.