JP3244591B2 - Tilt steering system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tilt type steering apparatus in which a column tube is attached to a vehicle body so as to be tiltable in a vertical direction around a bracket supporting a front end thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a tilt type steering apparatus in which elastic rubber for supporting a front end of a column tube is attached to a vehicle body by a retainer and a plate (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-36283). In this case, the inner peripheral surface of the elastic rubber that is in contact with the column tube is formed as a trapezoidal convex portion, and since the convex portion allows the column tube to tilt, tilting can be easily performed.

[0003]

However, in order to bring the elastic rubber into close contact with the column tube, it is necessary to press and hold the elastic rubber with a retainer and a plate, and there are disadvantages that the number of parts is large and the structure is complicated. . On the other hand, there is a type in which the front end of a column tube is swingably attached to a bracket (stay) fixed to a vehicle body via a spherical bush (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-25833). In this case, the column tube can be tilted very smoothly, but there is a disadvantage that the structure is more complicated and expensive. In addition, rattling is likely to occur in the column tube. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tilt type steering apparatus which has a simple structure, has a small number of parts, and can prevent backlash of a column tube.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a tilt type in which a column tube is attached to a vehicle body so as to be tiltable up and down around a bracket supporting a front end thereof. the steering apparatus, on the front end side of the bracket, provided with a through freely annulus a column tube with a predetermined gap, column Chu in the gap between the annular portion and the column tube
The collar that allows the vertical tilt of the
And the collar is the gap between the annular part and the column tube.
Thinner, multiple in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of the annular portion
At the location and the outer peripheral surface of the column tube
At a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction and at the contact portion with the annular portion and the circle
Contact at different points in the circumferential direction, and between the collar and the
And radial between collar and column tube
Characterized in that there is a gap for bending .

[0005]

[Function] The column tube is connected to the annular part of the bracket
The bending elasticity of the collar press-fitted into the gap with the
Since the column tube is supported , the backlash of the column tube can be sufficiently absorbed. In particular, the collar should be
Contact the outer peripheral surface of the tube at multiple locations that differ in the circumferential direction
Between the collar and the annulus, and between the collar and the column tube.
There is a gap between the collars to bend in the radial direction
If you try to tilt the column tube up and down around the bracket , the collar will
The tube can be tilted and the column tube can be easily tilted.

[0006]

1 to 7 show an example of a tilt type steering apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a steering wheel 2 is fixed to a rear end of a steering shaft 1, and a front end is connected to a steering mechanism (not shown) via a universal joint 3. The steering shaft 1 is rotatably inserted and held in a cylindrical column tube 4 via a bearing 5. The rear portion of the column tube 4 is supported by a rear bracket 6 so as to be movable in the axial direction with respect to a pedal bracket 7 fixed to the vehicle body C, and the front portion of the column tube 4 is supported by a front bracket 20 so as to swing by a predetermined angle. Have been.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rear bracket 6 includes a first bracket 8 and a second bracket 9, and the two brackets 8, 9 are welded and fixed to each other. The first bracket 8 is formed in a hat-shaped cross section, and attachment portions 8a to the pedal bracket 7 are formed at both ends. The mounting portion 8a is formed with a notch-shaped bolt insertion portion 8b opened rearward, and the bolt 1 inserted through the insertion portion 8b is formed.
By screwing 0 to the pedal bracket 7, the first bracket 8 is fixed to the pedal bracket 7. In addition,
Since the bolt insertion portion 8b has a cutout shape opened rearward,
At the time of a secondary collision, the first bracket 8 can be disengaged from the pedal bracket 7 forward.

The second bracket 9 has a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section so as to straddle the column tube 4. A hook 11 as a shock absorbing member is fixed to the upper surface of the second bracket 9 by welding or the like. The hook 11 is formed of a band bent in a substantially inverted S-shape, and has a V-shaped hooking portion 11 which can be engaged with the rear end of the pedal bracket 7 from the rear at the upper end thereof.
a is formed. A U-shaped bent portion (energy absorbing portion) 11 that is easily plastically deformed is provided below the hook 11.
The upper part of the bent portion 11b is covered by the first bracket 8. Therefore, the first bracket 8 restricts the upward bending of the bent portion 11b when the bent portion 11b attempts to plastically deform rearward during a secondary collision.

An elongated hole 9a in the vertical direction is formed in the lower portion of the second bracket 9, and the bolt 1 inserted into the elongated hole 9a is formed.
2, a tilt angle adjusting lever 13 is attached so as to be able to swing up and down. A third bracket 14 having a U-shaped cross section is fixed to a lower portion of the column tube 4 by welding or the like, and an insertion hole 14 formed in the bracket 14 is formed.
The column tube 4 is supported by the second bracket 9 by inserting the bolts 12 through a. The above lever 1
When the column tube 3 is swung downward, the tightening force of the bolt 12 is reduced, and the column tube 4 can be swung up and down by the length of the elongated hole 9a. When the lever 13 is swung upward at a predetermined tilt angle position, the bolt 12 is tightened, and the column tube 4 can be fixed at that position.

At both ends of the front bracket 20, FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
(See FIG. 1), a fixing portion 21 to be tightened and fixed is formed,
A cylindrical annular portion 22 is formed integrally with the central portion. A collar 30 made of an elastic resin such as a polyacetal resin is press-fitted into the annular portion 22. The collar 30 is partially cut 31 as shown in FIG.
Is provided with a square tubular member provided with Color 30
On the rear side edge, four easily breakable hooking pieces 32 protruding outward in the radial direction are integrally formed. A pair of mounting pieces 33 having a portion 34 are provided to project rearward. Further, a pair of outward claw pieces 35 are formed on the front side edge of the collar 30, and these claw pieces 35 engage with the front side edge of the annular portion 22,
The collar 30 is retained.

In the free state, the inner circle of the collar 30 has a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape whose inner peripheral side is smaller than the outer diameter of the column tube 4. When the collar 30 is fitted to the outer periphery of the column tube 4, The collar 30 slightly expands and comes into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the column tube 4. The collar 30 is axially positioned with respect to the column tube 4 by fitting the shaft portion 34 of the mounting piece 33 into the hole 4 a of the column tube 4. At this stage, the envelope circle on the outer peripheral side of the collar 30 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the annular portion 22 of the bracket 20. When the column tube 4 is pressed into the annular portion 22 together with the collar 30 from behind, the latching piece 32 comes into contact with the rear edge of the annular portion 22 as shown in FIG. In engagement, the collar 30 is axially secured to the annular portion 22.

At the stage when the collar 30 is pressed into the annular portion 22, the collar 30 is pressed against the inner surface of the annular portion 22 at a total of four locations as shown in FIG. Also pressed. Therefore, no play occurs between the column tube 4, the collar 30, and the annular portion 22, and a gap δ exists between the collar 30, the annular portion 22, and the column tube 4. This gap δ
The collar 30 can be flexed in the radial direction (perpendicular to the axis of the column tube 4). Therefore, when the column tube 4 is swung up and down at the time of tilting, the swing can be easily absorbed by the elastic deformation of the collar 30.

Here, the tilt operation of the steering device having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the tilt angle adjusting lever 13 is swung downward to reduce the tightening force of the bolt 12. As a result, the column tube 4 can swing up and down around the front bracket 20 as a fulcrum. The solid line position in FIG. 2 is the uppermost position, and the two-dot chain line position in FIG. 2 is the lowermost position. At this time, since the collar 30 is pressed and held inside the annular portion 22 and the shaft portion 34 of the collar 30 is fitted in the hole 4a of the column tube 4, the column tube 4 is It can swing with respect to the collar 30 and the bracket 20. When the lever 13 is swung upward after tilting to a predetermined position, the bolt 12 is tightened, and the column tube 4 is fixed. At this time,
Since the lower end of the column tube 4 is elastically supported by the bracket 20 via the collar 30, no rattling occurs.

Next, the energy absorbing operation at the time of the secondary collision will be described. When a vehicle equipped with the present steering device causes a collision accident and the driver makes a secondary collision with the steering wheel 2, the impact force causes the first bracket 8 to be disengaged from the pedal bracket 7 and the steering shaft 1.
And the column tube 4 moves forward in the axial direction.
Therefore, the hook 11 a of the hook 11 that moves forward integrally with the column tube 4 engages with the rear end of the pedal bracket, and the hook 11 is pulled relatively rearward by the pedal bracket 7. Therefore, the bent portion 1 of the hook
1b plastically deforms and absorbs energy. On the other hand, when the column tube 4 moves forward due to the secondary collision, the collar 30 attached to the front end of the column tube 4 also tends to move forward relative to the front bracket 20. Therefore, the latching piece 32 that is in contact with the rear surface of the bracket 20 breaks and absorbs a predetermined impact energy. This absorbed energy can be freely and accurately set by the breaking strength of the hook 32. Thus, before and after 2
The energy at the time of the secondary collision can be effectively absorbed by the impact absorbing portions at the locations, and the impact applied to the occupant can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, in the above embodiment, a breakaway structure is used.
Although the collar has been retained with respect to the column tube, the collar may be retained with respect to the annular portion of the front bracket. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the column tube is elastically supported on the annular portion of the bracket by using the collar formed in a substantially square cylindrical shape. Instead, the cylindrical tube is bent in the axial direction. Alternatively, a plurality of elastic pieces inclined inwardly may be provided on the cylindrical collar so that the column tube is elastically supported by these elastic pieces. The annular part formed on the front bracket,
The shape is not limited to the cylindrical shape as in the embodiment, and may be any shape as long as the column tube can be elastically held via the collar. The collar of the present invention only needs to have elasticity in the inward and outward directions, and may be formed of a resin or a metal material. Further, in the embodiment, the case where the steering shaft and the column tube are integral parts having no elasticity in the front-rear direction, respectively,
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a structure in which the upper member and the lower member can be inserted and removed so as to have elasticity may be used as is conventionally known. In the case of the embodiment, since there is an extra space in the front part of the vehicle body, the amount of forward movement of the steering shaft and the column tube at the time of the secondary collision can be absorbed in this space. Further, in the above embodiment, the energy absorbing type steering device has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a simple tilt type steering device having no energy absorbing mechanism.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the bracket on the front end side is provided with an annular portion through which the column tube can be inserted with a predetermined gap. In the gap, the inner peripheral surface of the annular part and the column
Contact the outer peripheral surface of the tube at multiple locations that differ in the circumferential direction
And bends radially between the annulus and the column tube.
Since the collar having a gap for pressurizing is press-fitted, the play of the column tube can be sufficiently absorbed by the elasticity of the collar, and the column tube can be easily tilted. Further, since the front end of the column tube can be elastically supported by two parts, a bracket and a collar, the number of parts is small and the structure can be made very simple. As a result, an inexpensive steering device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an example of a tilt steering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a rear support portion of a column tube.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a rear support portion of a column tube.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a support structure at a front portion of a column tube.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a collar.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 B Body 4 Column tube 20 Front bracket 22 Annular part 30 Collar

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-69831 (JP, A) JP-A-58-140869 (JP, U) JP-A-61-57062 (JP, U) JP-A-1-131677 (JP) , U) Hikaru 1-173072 (JP, U) Hikaru 4-114872 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B62D 1/04-1/28

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tilt type steering device in which a column tube is attached to a vehicle body so as to be tiltable in a vertical direction with a vicinity of a bracket supporting a front end thereof as a fulcrum, wherein the column tube is fixed to the bracket on the front end side. provided with a through freely annulus with a gap, the upper and lower column tube in the gap between the annulus and the column tube
The collar that allows tilt in the direction is press-fitted, and the collar is inserted through the gap between the annular portion and the column tube.
Thin at multiple locations in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of the annular portion
At the same time, and a circle
At a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction and at the contact portion with the annular portion and the circumferential direction
In different directions, between the collar and the annular part and
Collar flexes radially between collar and column tube
A tilt type steering device, characterized in that there is a gap for the steering.