JP3082106B2 - Centering device for steering shaft - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for centering a steering wheel on a vehicle assembly line so that the steering shaft is correctly neutralized when the steering wheel is mounted on the tip of the steering shaft.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a steering system of a front engine / front drive vehicle. A pair of left and right front wheels W connected to an engine E via a drive shaft 1 is shown.
f is steerably supported by the body frame via the knuckle 2. The rotation operation of the steering handle 3 is transmitted to the knuckle 2 via a steering shaft 4, a steering gear box 5, and left and right tie rods 6, and steers the left and right front wheels Wf.

By the way, when the steering handle 3 is attached to the tip of the steering shaft 4 in a vehicle assembly line, the steering shaft 3 is set so that the left and right front wheels Wf are in the straight traveling position when the steering handle 3 is in the neutral position. It is necessary to perform the installation while centering on the neutral position. For this purpose, conventionally, the front wheel Wf of the vehicle, which has been substantially assembled, is forcibly swung right and left, and the left and right steering limit positions of the front wheel Wf are detected by a pulse signal output from the encoder, and then two pulses are output. The neutral position of the steering shaft 4 is determined by returning the front wheel Wf to the center position of the signal, and the steering handle 3 is correctly attached to the tip of the steering shaft 4 in that state.

[0004]

However, in a vehicle in which accessories such as an airbag are mounted on the steering handle 3, it is necessary to mount the steering handle 3 at an early stage of the assembly process before mounting the wheels. However, the conventional method of determining the neutral position of the steering shaft based on the front wheels Wf cannot be used.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a steering shaft centering device capable of correctly positioning a steering shaft at a neutral position before mounting wheels.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a centering device for a steering shaft according to the present invention is provided with a base which is removably positioned with respect to a steering column cover, and which is provided on the base. Driving means for rotating the steering shaft in both left and right directions, detecting means for detecting the left and right rotation limit position of the steering shaft, and determining the neutral position of the steering shaft from the left and right rotation limit position of the steering shaft detected by the detection means. as well as operation, and control means for centering the steering shaft by the driving means toward its neutral position, the right and left round the steering shaft
Total rotation angle of steering shaft calculated from rolling limit position
And a warning means for issuing a warning when does not match the reference value .

[0007]

[0008] The present invention also provides a steering column cover.
A base that is detachably positioned with respect to
Provided to rotate the steering shaft in both left and right directions
Moving means for moving the steering shaft,
Detecting means for detecting the rolling limit position and detecting by this detecting means
From the left and right rotation limit position of the steering shaft
Calculating the neutral position of the steering shaft and
The steering means is moved toward the neutral position by the driving means.
Control means for centering the steering shaft, and a guide member of a marking jig for writing a reference line at the tip of the steering shaft is slidably provided along the base .
This is a second feature.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a centering device, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line 3-3 in FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, the centering device 11
Is provided with a base 13 provided with a pair of handles 12 at both left and right ends for a worker to hold and operate with both hands. Base 1
An operation panel 14 provided at the top of the unit 3 is provided with a start button 15 for starting a centering operation and a completion button 16 for ending the operation.
An abnormality alarm lamp 17 that lights up when a trouble occurs and a completion lamp 18 that notifies completion of the centering operation are provided. An adjusting mechanism 19 for centering the steering shaft 4 of the vehicle at the neutral position is provided below the base 13.

Next, the structure of the adjusting mechanism 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. Support plate 2 provided on base 13
A steering shaft drive shaft 22 is supported at 0 via a ball bearing 21. The large-diameter portion 22a and the small-diameter portion 22 are integrally formed.
A driven gear 23 having a through hole 23a at the center is fixed to the large diameter portion 22a concentrically, and the inner surface of the small diameter portion 22b can be engaged with a spline 4a formed at the tip of the steering shaft 4. Spline 22c
Is formed. A positioning pin 24 projects from the lower surface of the support plate 20, and can be engaged with a positioning recess 7 a formed in the steering column cover 7.

The gear box 2 provided on the upper surface of the support plate 20
A first intermediate gear 2 meshed with a drive gear 28 provided on an output shaft 27a of a motor 27 as a driving means is provided on an intermediate shaft 26 supported by a pair of ball bearings 25 inside the first intermediate gear 2a.
9 and a second intermediate gear 30 meshing with the driven gear 23 are fixed. Rotary encoder 31 as detection means provided inside motor 27 (see FIG. 4)
Detects the number of rotations of the output shaft 27a and outputs a pulse signal.

A cylindrical guide member 35 capable of holding a scribe pen 34 is fixed to a slide guide 33 which slides along a guide rail 32 laid on the upper surface of the gear box 20a in the left-right direction via a bracket 36. Is done. Insert the scribing pen 34 into the guide member 35 and insert the guide rail 3
2, a left-right straight line can be marked on the distal end surface of the steering shaft 4 by the tip of the scribing pen 34.

As shown in FIG. 4, a start button 15, a completion button 16, an abnormality alarm lamp 17, and a completion lamp 18 of an operation panel 14 provided in the centering device 11 are connected to a control means 37 provided with a microcomputer. The motor 27 of the adjusting mechanism 19 and the encoder 3
1 is connected. Further, the control means 37 includes a proximity switch 39 for detecting that the conveyor truck 38 on which the vehicle is mounted has reached the steering shaft centering station provided on the assembly line, and an assembly line control device 40 for establishing connection between the work stations. , And a host computer 41 that provides production plan information.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the proximity switch 39 detects that the conveyor truck 38 carrying the vehicle has reached the steering shaft centering station, the assembly truck controller 40 stops the conveyor truck 38 at that position. The operator grips the left and right handles 12 of the centering device 11, engages the spline 22c formed on the small diameter portion 22b of the steering shaft drive shaft 22 with the spline 4a formed on the tip of the steering shaft 4, and sets the positioning pin 24. Engage with the positioning recess 7a of the steering column cover 7 (step S
1). Subsequently, when the operator presses the start button 15 on the operation panel 14 (step S2), the motor 27 is driven by the control means 37, and the drive gear 28, the first intermediate gear 2
9, the second intermediate gear 30, and the driven gear 23 rotate the steering shaft drive shaft 22. As a result, the steering shaft 4 rotates to the right rotation limit position (step S3). Steering shaft 4
The pulse output from the encoder 31 when is rotated clockwise is subtracted, and the number of pulses detected at the rotation limit position is reset to 0 (step S4). Subsequently, the motor 27 is rotated in the reverse direction to rotate the steering shaft 4.
The pulse output from the encoder 31 is added while rotating to the left rotation limit position, and the number of pulses corresponding to the rotation limit position is detected (step S5). The number of pulses detected in this way is compared with the distribution data from the host computer 41 (step S6). If the values do not match, it is determined that the total rotation angle of the steering shaft 4 is insufficient or excessive, The abnormality alarm lamp 17 on the operation panel 14 is turned on (step S7).

If there is no abnormality in step S6, a pulse number which is の of the detected pulse number is set by calculation, and the pulse output from the encoder 31 while the steering shaft 4 is rotated rightward again by the motor 27. Is subtracted (step S8). When the number of detected pulses becomes 0, that is, when the steering shaft 4
Is centered at the neutral position, the motor 27 stops (step S9), and the completion lamp 18 on the operation panel 14
Lights up (step S10).

As described above, the steering shaft 4
Is centered, the operator inserts the scribing pen 34 into the guide member 35 and moves it left and right along the guide rail 32 to draw a scribing line in the left and right direction at the centered end of the steering shaft 4. Then, after removing the centering device 11 from the steering shaft 4 and the steering column cover 7, the steering handle 3 is mounted in accordance with the scribe line. In this way, if the scribe line is written at the tip of the steering shaft 4, even if the steering handle 3 is removed for any reason in a later process, the steering handle 3 can be remounted without repeating the centering work. Becomes possible.

When the worker who has finished mounting the steering wheel 3 presses the completion button 16 (step S).
11), the completion lamp 18 is turned off (step S1).
2) The distribution data from the host computer 41 is shifted in preparation for the centering operation of the steering shaft 4 of the next vehicle (step S13).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various small design changes can be made.

[0022]

As described above, according to the invention of each claim ,
A driving means for rotating the steering shaft in both left and right directions is provided on a base which is detachably positioned with respect to the steering column cover, and the steering shaft is driven based on an output of a detection means for detecting a left and right rotation limit position of the steering shaft. Since the neutral position is calculated and the steering shaft is centered by the driving means toward the neutral position, not only the centering work can be performed easily and precisely, but also the wheel is not mounted. The centering operation can also be performed, and the degree of freedom of the operation procedure on the assembly line can be increased.

According to the first aspect of the present invention , an alarm is issued when the total rotation angle of the steering shaft obtained from the left-right rotation limit position of the steering shaft is abnormal. Can be found.

According to the second aspect of the present invention , since the guide member of the scribing jig is slidably provided along the base, a reference line can be marked at the tip of the steering shaft after centering is completed. This makes it possible to re-attach the steering wheel without re-centering after removing the steering wheel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a centering device for a steering shaft.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a steering system of an automobile.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 steering shaft 7 steering column cover 13 base 17 abnormality alarm lamp (alarm unit) 27 motor (drive unit) 31 encoder (detection unit) 34 scribing pen (scribing jig) 35 guide member 37 control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Nakayama 1907, Hirata-cho, Suzuka-shi, Mie Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Suzuka Factory (56) References JP-A-3-21558 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 65/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A base (13) removably positioned with respect to a steering column cover (7), and a drive provided on the base (13) for rotating a steering shaft (4) in both left and right directions. Means (27), detecting means (31) for detecting the left-right rotation limit position of the steering shaft (4), and the steering based on the left-right rotation limit position of the steering shaft (4) detected by the detection means (31). The neutral position of the shaft (4) is calculated, and the driving means (27) is moved toward the neutral position.
Control means (37) for centering the steering shaft (4) with the steering shaft (4);
Steering shaft determined from left and right rotation limit position
An alarm is issued when the total rotation angle of (4) does not match the reference value
And a warning means (17) . 2. With respect to the steering column cover (7).
(13) which is detachably positioned by using
(13) The steering shaft (4) is set to the left
A driving means (27) for rotating in both right and left directions;
Detecting the left and right rotation limit position of the aligning shaft (4)
Detecting means (31), and detected by the detecting means (31)
Is the left-right rotation limit position of the steering shaft (4)
Calculates the neutral position of the steering shaft (4)
And the driving means (27) toward the neutral position.
Center the steering shaft (4) with
And a guide member (35) for writing a reference line at the tip of the steering shaft (4) so that the guide member (35) is slidable along the base (13). and wherein the providing et Retako, centering device of the scan tearing shaft.