JP2580481Y2 - Steering column support device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A steering column support device according to the present invention is used to collide a cylindrical steering column, which is supported on the lower surface of an automobile dashboard or the like and through which a steering shaft constituting a vehicle steering device is inserted. At times, the vehicle is supported so that it can be displaced forward to protect the occupant's life in the event of a collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle collides, a so-called secondary collision occurs in which a driver collides with a steering wheel, following a so-called primary collision in which the vehicle collides with another vehicle or the like. In the event of this secondary collision, the steering shaft that fixes the steering wheel at the rear end is designed to reduce the impact received by the driver and protect the life of the driver. In general, a so-called collapsible steering shaft that shrinks and a steering column through which the steering shaft is inserted are of an impact absorbing type.

[0003] When a shock absorbing type steering column used for such a purpose is supported on a vehicle body, the support is released when a strong impact is applied, and the steering column is allowed to be displaced forward. There is a need. For this reason, conventionally, the steering column is supported by the vehicle body on the lower surface of the dashboard or the like by a structure as shown in FIGS. The steering shaft 1 has a steering wheel 2 fixed to a rear end portion, and is rotated in a torsional direction by operating the steering wheel 2. The entire length of the steering shaft 1 is contractible by a collapsible structure (not shown). An intermediate portion of the cylindrical steering column 3 through which the steering shaft 1 is inserted is supported by a part of the vehicle body 4 such as a dashboard lower surface. The steering column 3 also has a collapsible structure (not shown) so that when an axial impact is applied, the overall length of the steering column 3 is reduced while absorbing the impact.

A support bracket 5 formed by bending a metal plate is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate portion of the steering column 3.
Are fixed by welding or the like. This support bracket 5
On both sides, mounting plate portions 6 for mounting the support bracket 5 to the vehicle body 4 are formed. Then, a U-shaped cut 7 as shown in FIG. 14 is formed in each of the mounting plate portions 6, 6 in such a state as to open toward the rear edge (the steering wheel 2 side edge) of each of the mounting plate portions 6, 6. Has formed. or,
A sliding plate 8 made by folding a metal plate into a U-shape,
Each of the mounting plate portions 6, 6 is covered so as to cover the notch 7.
From the side of the steering wheel 2 (FIG. 1)
2 (from the upper right side of 2). The sliding plate 8 is used to release the support of the steering column 3 with a light force at the time of a collision, and a pair of upper and lower flat plates 9, 9 and the rear edges of both flat plates 9, 9 are continuous. A continuous portion 19 is provided, and through holes 10 are formed at positions where the flat portions 9 are aligned with each other. In addition, each of the flat plate portions 9, 9
The inner surfaces 9a, 9a, which are in contact with each other and which are in contact with the mounting plate 6, are made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTF).
A sliding layer such as E) is formed.

When the intermediate portion of the steering column 3 is supported on the vehicle body 4 through the support bracket 5 as described above, the through holes 10 and 10 formed in the slide plate 8 and the mounting plate 6 are formed. Bolt 11 inserted through cut 7
Is screwed into a screw hole 12 provided on the vehicle body 4 side and tightened. Then, the mounting plate portion 6 is strongly sandwiched via the seat plate 13 and the slide plate 8 mounted on the head of the bolt 11, and the support bracket 5 is supported on the vehicle body 4.

Since the intermediate portion of the steering column 3 is supported on the vehicle body 4 as described above, in the event of a secondary collision caused by a collision accident, as described below, the front of the steering column 3 (left side in FIG. 12). To allow the driver's life to be safe. When an impact is applied to the steering wheel 2 due to the secondary collision, the impact is immediately applied to the steering column 3.
The steering column 3 is strongly pushed in the axial direction, and the overall length tends to be reduced by a collapsible structure (not shown). At the same time, bolt 11
Escapes from the notch 7 formed in each of the mounting plate portions 6, 6, and the steering column 3 can be displaced. A sliding plate 8 is provided between the bolt 11 and each of the mounting plate portions 6, 6.
Since a sliding layer is provided on the inner surfaces 9a, 9a which are in contact with the mounting plate portion 6 in a part of 9, the force required when the bolt 11 comes out of the cut 7 formed in the mounting plate portion 6 is relatively small. It is possible to reduce the impact force caused by disengaging the support portion.

[0007]

The sliding plate 8 constituting the steering column support device as described above is attached before the bolts 11 are inserted into the through holes 10 and 10 in order to assemble the support device. Attach to the plate parts 6, 6
It is necessary to match 0, 10 with the cut 7. If the sliding plate 8 is displaced and moved after the sliding plate 8 is mounted on the mounting plate portion 6, the bolt 11 cannot be inserted. ,
It is necessary to provide a locking means for preventing the slide plate 8 from being accidentally displaced and moved.

For this reason, conventionally, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-25981
Gazette, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-174667, 63-222
As disclosed in JP-A-79-79, etc., locking means of various structures have been proposed and actually used. However, in the case of these conventional structures, the structure is complicated and the manufacturing cost increases, or the steering column is displaced in the event of a collision, and the impact applied to the driver's body during a secondary collision is large. However, it was not always satisfactory. The steering column support device of the present invention eliminates any of these disadvantages.

[0009]

The steering column supporting device according to the present invention is, like the above-mentioned conventional supporting device, attached to a steering column in which a steering shaft for fixing a steering wheel at a rear end can be inserted and a vehicle body. A support bracket fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the steering column,
A notch formed so as to be open on one edge side, and a pair of upper and lower flat plate portions by folding a metal plate into a U-shape and a continuous portion for connecting the rear end edges of these flat plate portions to each other are provided. A through-hole is provided in a portion that is aligned with each other, and in a state where the mounting plate portion is sandwiched by the two flat plate portions, a sliding plate mounted on the mounting plate portion from the rear end side of the mounting plate portion,
A bolt is provided for supporting the support bracket to the vehicle body by inserting each of the through holes and the notch of the slide plate and screwing it into a screw hole provided on the vehicle body side.

In particular, in the steering column support device according to the present invention, the continuous portion of the slide plate is formed at a position sandwiching the opening of the cut by the rear end edge of the mounting plate portion . By engaging with the notch , the slip plate in the width direction of the mounting plate portion is prevented from slipping, and a part of the slide plate is formed in a portion located forward of the continuous portion, and is formed from each of the flat plate portions. Also, the narrow locking piece is bent toward the mounting plate portion, and a part of the mounting plate portion is sandwiched from both sides in the front-rear direction by the locking piece and the continuous portion, so that the mounting plate of the sliding plate is formed. The part is prevented from shifting in the front-rear direction.

[0011]

In the steering column support device of the present invention constructed as described above, the engagement between the continuous portion and the second notch, and a part of the mounting plate portion is formed by the engagement piece and the continuous portion. Since the slide plate is held from both sides in the front-rear direction to prevent the slide plate from being displaced from the mounting plate portion, the structure for preventing the slide plate is simple, and the support device can be manufactured at low cost. In addition, since the slip prevention portion hardly causes resistance when the steering column is displaced, it is possible to prevent a large impact from being applied to the driver's body due to the secondary collision.

[0012]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
The feature of the present invention lies in the structure of a portion for preventing the sliding plate from moving while the sliding plate is mounted on the mounting plate portion of the support bracket. Since other structures and operations are the same as those of the above-described conventional structure, the illustration and description of the overlapping parts are omitted or simplified, and the characteristic parts of the present invention will be described below.

The front edge of the sliding plate 8 (the left edge in FIG. 1A)
A locking piece 14 having a width smaller than that of the flat plate portion 9 constituting the sliding plate 8 is formed integrally with the sliding plate 8 at the center. Further, when the through holes 10 and 10 of the slide plate 8 are aligned with the cuts 7 of the mounting plate 6 at the front edge of the mounting plate 6 (the left edge of FIG. An engagement recess 15 is formed at a position where the piece 14 is aligned. Also, mounting plate
A second notch 20 is formed in the portion of the rear end edge of the notch 6 that sandwiches the notch 7 so that the continuous portion 19 of the slide plate 8 can be engaged.

In order to mount the sliding plate 8 on the mounting plate portion 6 as described above, the sliding plate 8 is mounted on the mounting plate portion 6 before the locking piece 14 is bent. The through holes 10, 10 are aligned with the cuts 7, and the continuous portion 19 is engaged with the second cuts 20.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the locking piece 14 is bent toward the mounting plate 6 so that the locking piece 14 and the engaging recess 15 are engaged. As a result, the locking piece 14 and the continuous portion 19 of the sliding plate 8 hold a part of the mounting plate 6 from both sides in the front-rear direction. And the sliding plate 8
May escape toward the rear edge of the mounting plate 6 (the right edge in FIGS. 1A and 1B) or the width direction of the mounting plate 6 {FIG.
(A) is shifted in the vertical direction｝, and the outer edge ｛FIG. 1 (A)
From the lower edge｝ side of the cable. In the event of a collision,
The locking piece 14 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1B to allow the attachment plate 6 to come out of the inside of the slide plate 8.
Since the rigidity of the locking piece 14 is small, the locking piece 14 hardly acts as resistance against the detachment of the mounting plate 6.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the case of the present embodiment, a U-shaped through-groove 16 whose rear part (the right side in FIG. 2) is open is formed in a part of the sliding plate 8, and the inside of the through-groove 16 is used as a locking piece 17. or,
When the through holes 10 and 10 of the slide plate 8 are aligned with the cuts 7 of the mounting plate portion 6 at substantially the center of the mounting plate portion 6, the engagement holes 17 18 are formed.

When the sliding plate 8 is mounted on the mounting plate 6, the sliding plate 8 is mounted on the mounting plate 6 before the locking piece 17 is bent. It is mounted so as to cover from the edge side, and the above-mentioned through holes 10 and 10 are aligned with the cuts 7. Next, the locking piece 17 is
As shown in FIG. 2 (B), the locking piece 17 is bent toward the mounting plate portion 6 and the locking piece 17 is engaged with the engagement hole 18 to form the locking piece 17 and the sliding plate 8. A part of the mounting plate 6 is sandwiched by the continuous portion 19 from both sides in the front-rear direction.

As a result, the slide plate 8 comes off from the rear end side of the mounting plate portion 6 or moves in the width direction of the mounting plate portion 6 (vertical direction in FIG. It is prevented from slipping out of the rim. At the time of collision, the locking piece 17
2B is rotated clockwise in FIG. 2B to allow the attachment plate 6 to come out of the inside of the slide plate 8. Since the rigidity of the locking piece 17 is small, the locking piece 17 hardly acts as resistance against the detachment of the mounting plate 6.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the locking piece 14 is formed on the front edge of the upper flat plate portion 9 located on the side of the vehicle body 4 at the time of assembly. Is
The locking piece 14 is formed on the lower flat plate portion 9. Since the locking piece 14 is formed on the lower flat plate portion 9 in this manner, in the case of this embodiment, the locking piece 14 is shown by a chain line in FIG. When the mounting plate 6 is fixed to the vehicle body 4 by bolts 11 after being sufficiently bent as shown in FIG.
(B) rotates counterclockwise, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The bending angle becomes small. For this reason, when the sliding plate 8 comes out of the rear end side of the mounting plate portion 6 in the event of a collision, the force required to deform the locking piece 14 becomes smaller. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In any of the first to third embodiments, the mounting plate 6
In this embodiment, only one slide plate 8 is mounted on the mounting plate portion 6 so that the two slide plates 8 and 8a are overlapped. I have. Then, the locking piece 14 formed on the outer sliding plate 8 is connected to the inner sliding plate 8a.
In addition, by bending the sliding plates 8 and 8a toward the mounting plate 6, the sliding plates 8 and 8a are prevented from falling off from the mounting plate 6.
Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Next, FIG. 5 shows two examples of the shape of the through hole 10 formed in the flat plate portion 9 of the slide plate 8. In the conventional structure, since the position of the slide plate 8 is not stable,
Has a long hole elongated in the front-rear direction as shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the structure of the present invention, since the position of the slide plate 8 does not shift, a circular hole as shown in FIG. When the through holes 10 are elongated, assembly errors can be absorbed. On the other hand, when the through hole 10 is a circular hole, the assembly error cannot be absorbed,
Even when the front portion of the vehicle body is crushed due to a collision accident and the steering column 3 (see FIG. 12) is pushed rearward, it is possible to prevent the steering column 3 from being displaced rearward, that is, so-called thrust. In addition, by forming the through hole 10 as a circular hole, it is supported.
The mounting plate 6 of the bracket 5 can be used as a reference when the steering column is mounted on the vehicle body. As a result,
The accuracy of assembling the instrument panel with the column (column cover or cowl) is improved, the gap between the two can be reduced, the appearance performance is improved, and there is an effect that sound is not generated due to interference between the two.

Next, FIGS. 6 to 11 show examples of locking pieces and through holes formed in the slide plate 8. First, FIG. 6 shows that the locking piece 14 is formed at the center of the front edge of the sliding plate 8 as used in the first, third and fourth embodiments, and the flat plate portion is formed as the through hole 10. FIG. 7 shows a case where one circular hole is formed in each of 9, 9 and FIG. 7 shows a case where two circular through holes 10 and 10 are formed in each of the flat plate portions 9 and 9 respectively.
Are formed with locking pieces 14, 14 at the left and right ends of the front edge of the sliding plate 8, and each of the flat plates 9,
FIG. 9 shows an example in which the long holes are formed one by one, and FIG. 9 shows an example in which the locking pieces 14 in the example shown in FIG.
Provided one locking piece 17 surrounded by a U-shaped through-groove 16 and formed two through-holes 10 and 10 in the flat plates 9 and 9, each having a circular hole and a long hole. And Figure 11
Two locking pieces 17, 17 surrounded by U-shaped grooves 16, 16, and two circular through holes 10, 10 formed in each of the flat plate portions 9, 9. Are respectively shown. Which of the sliding plates 8 having such various shapes is to be adopted is determined by design considerations according to the size of the steering column 3 to be supported and the like.

[0022]

[Effects of the Invention] The steering column support device of the present invention is constructed and operated as described above, so that it can be manufactured with a simple configuration at a low cost, and the slipping movement of the sliding plate with respect to the mounting plate portion can be reliably prevented. In addition, there is almost no resistance to the displacement of the steering column during a collision.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B show a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a partial plan view, and FIG.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a partial plan view, and FIG.

3A and 3B show a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 3A is a partial plan view, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view showing two examples of the shape of the through hole.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a first example of the shape of a sliding plate.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a second example.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a third example.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a fourth example.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a fifth example.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a sixth example.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a steering column support device according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II-II in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a mounting plate portion and a sliding plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering shaft 2 Steering wheel 3 Steering column 4 Body 5 Support bracket 6 Mounting plate 7 Notch 8, 8a Sliding plate 9 Flat plate 9a Inner surface 10 Through hole 11 Bolt 12 Screw hole 13 Seat plate 14 Locking piece 15 Engaging recess 16 Through hole 17 Engagement piece 18 Engagement hole 19 Continuity part 20 Second cut

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B62D 1/16-1/19

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A steering column having a steering shaft for fixing a steering wheel at a rear end thereof, and a support bracket having a mounting plate for mounting to a vehicle body and fixed to an outer peripheral surface of the steering column.
A notch formed in the mounting plate portion so as to open to the rear end side, and a pair of upper and lower flat plate portions and a continuous portion for connecting the rear end edges of both flat plate portions by folding the metal plate into a U-shape. And a sliding plate mounted on the mounting plate portion from the rear end side of the mounting plate portion with the mounting plate portion sandwiched between the flat plate portions and a through hole provided in a portion of the flat plate portions aligned with each other. By inserting the through holes and the cuts of the slide plate and screwing into screw holes provided on the vehicle body side,
In a steering column support device comprising a bolt for supporting the support bracket to a vehicle body, a continuous portion of the slide plate is formed at a position sandwiching the cut opening by a rear end edge of the mounting plate portion. By engaging with the second notch to prevent the slide plate from slipping in the width direction of the mounting plate portion, each of the slide plates is formed in a portion located forward of the continuous portion in the slide plate. A locking piece narrower than the flat plate portion is bent toward the mounting plate portion, and a part of the mounting plate portion is sandwiched between the locking piece and the continuous portion from both sides in the front-rear direction, so that the sliding plate is formed. A support device for a steering column, wherein the mounting plate is prevented from shifting in the front-rear direction.