JP2592424Y2 - Vehicle steps - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle step disposed below a door opening in a vehicle having a large height, such as an off-road vehicle, in order to make it easier to get on and off.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional vehicle step has a step stay which is fixed to a rocker panel or the like which is a part of a body of the vehicle by bolts. The tip of the step stay extends below the rocker panel, and the step plate is fixed thereto.

[0003]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In consideration of getting on and off of a vehicle having a large vehicle height, it is generally better that the step plate is located at a low position. different. However, in the above prior art, since the step stay is fixed to the body side, the height of the step plate is also constant. Further, since the height of the step plate is set low with priority on the getting on and off of the vehicle, the step plate may hit the road surface during off-road driving or the like. The technical problem of the present invention is to make it possible to arbitrarily adjust the height of the step plate, and to make it possible to self-lock at each adjustment position.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the vehicle steps of the present invention are configured as follows. That is, a stay case fixed to the body side of the vehicle, a step stay attached to the stay case so as to be able to move up and down, a step plate fixed to the step stay, and also provided on the step stay, and A rack having teeth formed along the direction of the elevating operation, a pinion rotatably provided with respect to the stay case side while always meshing with the rack, and a reciprocating pivot with respect to the stay case side An operation lever operably provided, a ratchet mechanism for rotating the pinion in only one direction based on the selection at that time in conjunction with the rotation operation of the operation lever, and also in conjunction with the rotation operation of the operation lever And a hook for repeating engagement with and release from the rack.

[0005]

According to this structure, by repeatedly rotating the operation lever, the pinion rotates in one direction through the ratchet mechanism. As a result, the rack engaged with the pinion moves up and down together with the step stay, and the height of the step plate is adjusted. Further, since the hook repeatedly engages with and disengages from the rack in conjunction with the turning operation of the operation lever, the step stay is repeatedly locked or unlocked on the step plate side every time the step-up / down operation is performed. Therefore, the height of the step plate is finely adjusted depending on the operation of the operation lever, and is maintained at each adjustment position. The raising or lowering operation of the step stay can be arbitrarily switched by selecting the rotation direction of the pinion by the ratchet mechanism.

[0006]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire off-road vehicle. In this drawing, a step S is provided below the opening of the door 12, which is a place where the vehicle 10 gets on and off. The use of step S facilitates getting on and off even if the height of the vehicle 10 is large. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the step S. As is apparent from this drawing, the step S is composed of three step stays 30, a step plate 36 fixed while being supported by these step stays 30, and a respective step in which the base of each step stay 30 is individually inserted. The stay case 20 is mainly configured. Since the related structure of each of the stay cases 20 and the step stays 30 is the same, only one of them will be described.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship between one stay case 20 and a step stay 30, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view thereof. First, as is apparent from FIG. 5, a rocker panel 14 and a floor side inner panel 16 joined to the inside thereof are located below the door 12, as is well known. This floor side inner panel 16
, The stay case 20 is fixed. The lower surface of the stay case 20 is open, and the step stay 3 is inserted into the stay case 20 from the open portion.
0 base is inserted. The step stay 30 includes two rollers 32 inside the stay case 20.
Are assembled in a state of being positioned by the cage 34. When these rollers 32 come into contact with the inner wall surface of the stay case 20 and roll, the step stay 30 smoothly moves up and down with respect to the stay case 20. The step plate 36 is fixed to the step stay 30 by bolts and nuts 38.

FIG. 1A is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1A. As is apparent from FIGS. 1B and 4, flange portions 22 are formed on both left and right sides of the stay case 20. These flange portions 22 are fixed to the lower side inner panel 16 with bolts and nuts 26 as shown in FIG. A rack 40 having teeth formed along the direction of the elevating operation is fixed to the step stay 30. The teeth of the rack 40 are located outside the case 20 through slit-shaped openings 21 formed in the side wall of the stay case 20.

A gear case 50 is fixed to the flange portion 22 of the stay case 20 on the side where the teeth of the rack 40 are located through the opening 21. As shown in FIG. 1A, a pair of mutually engaged bevel gears 54 and 60 are incorporated in the gear case 50. The drive shaft 5 to which one bevel gear 54 is fixed
2 has both ends rotatably supported by upper and lower walls of the gear case 50. The other bevel gear 60
The shaft 62 on which the gear is fixed is rotatably supported on the front wall of the gear case 50, and a pinion 64 meshed with the rack 40 outside the gear case 50 is fixed to an end of the shaft 62. ing. Therefore, when the drive shaft 52 rotates, the step stay 30 moves up and down along the stay case 20 through the engagement of the bevel gears 54 and 60 and the rack 40 with the pinion 64.

An operation lever 58 is provided on the drive shaft 52.
Are connected via a ratchet mechanism 56. By reciprocating the operation lever 58 about the axis of the drive shaft 52, a rotational force is applied to the drive shaft 52 through the ratchet mechanism 56 in any one direction. In addition, the rotation direction of the drive shaft 52 can be selected by switching the ratchet mechanism 56. Further, a hook 6 is provided at a portion that rotates together with the operation lever 58.
6 is fixed, and this operating lever 58 is
By the force of the spring 68 shown in (B), it is always held at the rotation position shown in each drawing. In this state, the hole 6 formed in the tip of the hook 66
6a is engaged with the teeth of the rack 40, and the vertical movement of the step stay 30 with respect to the stay case 20 is locked. Each time the operation lever 58 is rotated to the state shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 1B, the hook 66 is disengaged from the teeth of the rack 40 and the lock is released.

Next, an operation for moving the step stay 30 up and down will be described. Now, it is assumed that the step plate 36 is at the lowest position as shown by a solid line in FIG. At this time, the pinion 64 is engaged with the upper end portion of the rack 40, and the hook 66 is engaged with the teeth of the rack 40 slightly below the engaged portion (see, for example, FIG. 4). Therefore, in this state, the step stay 30 is locked on the side of the stay case 20, that is, on the body side of the vehicle 10. Then, after the ratchet mechanism 56 is set on the side where the ascending operation is given to the step stay 30, the operation lever 58 is reciprocally rotated. As a result, the drive shaft 52 rotates in one direction through the ratchet mechanism 56, and the pinion 6 rotates through the meshing rotation of the two bevel gears 54 and 60.
4 also rotates in one direction. As a result, the pinion 64
The step stay 30 rises through the rack 40 meshing with the step.

During the rotation operation of the operation lever 58, the hook 66 repeatedly engages with and disengages from the teeth of the rack 40. If this operation is stopped, the hook 66 is actuated by the force of the spring 68. Are held engaged with the rack 40. Therefore, the operation lever 58
The step plate 36 can be adjusted to an arbitrary height depending on the operation, and can be locked at that position at the same time. When lowering the step stay 30, the ratchet mechanism 56 may be switched to the side to which the lowering operation is given to the step stay 30, and then the operation lever 58 may be rotated in the same manner as described above.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, the height of the step plate can be arbitrarily adjusted, and the self-lock is realized at each adjustment position, so that the step plate can be adapted to the user's physique and preference. The step plate can be used at a height such that the step plate does not hit the road surface when the vehicle is running off-road.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an off-road vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing only steps.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a stay case and a step stay.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a relationship between a stay case and a step stay.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 stay case 30 step stay 36 step plate 40 rack 56 ratchet mechanism 58 operation lever 64 pinion 66 hook

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A stay case fixed to a body side of a vehicle, a step stay attached to the stay case so as to be able to move up and down, a step plate fixed to the step stay, and a step stay. A rack provided with teeth formed along the direction of the elevating operation, a pinion rotatably provided with respect to the stay case side while always meshing with the rack, and a rack with respect to the stay case side. And a ratchet mechanism for rotating the pinion only in one direction based on the selection at that time in conjunction with the rotation of the operation lever, and a rotation of the operation lever. A step for a vehicle, comprising: a hook for repeating engagement and disengagement with the rack in conjunction with an operation.