JP3800439B2 - Steering device with tilt release mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tilt release mechanism of a steering device in a vehicle having a relatively upright steering shaft, such as a cabover type vehicle such as a truck or a one-box vehicle, or a rear engine type vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Steering devices for cab-over type vehicles such as trucks and one-box vehicles, or rear-engine type vehicles such as large buses, etc. have a steering shaft that is tilted in the middle, and the steering wheel is placed on the upper end of this steering shaft toward the driver. Are provided in a slightly inclined state.
[0003]
When an automobile equipped with such a steering device 10 collides with another automobile or the like, as shown in FIG. 7A, the body of the driver 50 hung on the seat 51 suddenly moves forward due to the impact of the collision. There is a risk that the steering wheel 11 attached to the upper end of the steering shaft may collide with the abdomen of the body of the driver 50.
[0004]
In order to prevent such a danger, as shown in FIG. 7B, the steering shaft 12 tilted toward the driver 50 side is released from the tilt by the explosive force of gunpowder or the like at the moment of collision, and the steering shaft. The steering wheel 11 has been proposed so that a space is formed between the steering wheel 11 and the body of the driver 50.
[0005]
As one side of the tilt release mechanism of such a steering device, there is a devise of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-12259. According to this device, when an automobile collides with another automobile or the like, based on the collision signal from the collision sensor, the control device issues an actual fire command to the explosive on the condition that the driver is wearing the seat belt. Is output and the gunpowder is ignited.
[0006]
As a result, the upper part of the steering column, to which the piston is swingably mounted with the intermediate part as a fulcrum, is pulled via the cable to the anti-driver side, and the upper bracket supporting the steering shaft is plastically deformed. Is moved forward. Thereby, it is avoided that a driver | operator's body collides with a steering wheel.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the prior art, the collision of the automobile is detected by the collision sensor, and this is transmitted to the electric circuit for exploding the explosive, and the tilt of the steering shaft is released by the explosive explosive. The operation until release is fast, and the driver's body can be prevented from colliding with the steering wheel.
[0008]
However, in the above prior art, the entire steering column is forcibly swung from the tilted state by the explosive force of the explosive and released, and the steering column support bracket is plastically deformed. As a result, explosive consumption is inevitably increased.
[0009]
In addition, because the plastic deformation of the entire steering device and bracket from the steering shaft to the steering wheel is swung by the force of gunpowder, the weight is large, the responsiveness is reduced by this amount, the release of tilt after the collision is delayed, and the driver Interferes with the protection of the body.
[0010]
In view of the above problems, the present invention minimizes the explosive force required for releasing the tilt at the time of collision to reduce the consumption of explosives and improve the responsiveness from the collision to the release of tilt. An object of the present invention is to provide a tilt release mechanism of a steering device that can surely protect a passenger's body at the time of a collision.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. The feature of the present invention is that a steering wheel is fixed to an upper portion of a steering column supported substantially vertically in a driver's seat of a vehicle. A steering mechanism that rotatably supports the steering shaft, and is equipped with the steering shaft tilted toward the driver's seat at an intermediate bent portion, and a locking mechanism that locks the tilted state of the steering shaft at the bent portion; And a tilt release mechanism for releasing the tilt state by releasing the engagement of the lock mechanism, wherein the tilt release mechanism is connected to a lever support attached to the steering column via a support shaft. a lock lever rotatably supported to the operation of the engagement or release the locking mechanism Te, the Rebasa A housing having a semi-annular space formed in a rotation direction around the support shaft of the lock lever, and a rotation direction around the support shaft in the space of the housing that protrudes from the lock lever. comprising an actuating member which is rotatably fitted in, and gunpowder chamber explosive is loaded so as to face the said actuating member in said space, of acting fire Kusuri爆 Hatsuryoku in the explosive chamber to said actuating member so, by rotating the lock lever to said support shaft around via the acting element is in a steering apparatus having a tilt release mechanism characterized by comprising configured to release the tilting state.
[0012]
In addition to the means, a collision sensor for detecting a collision with the other object of the vehicle, and a control device for receiving a collision detection signal from the collision sensor and causing the explosive in the explosive chamber to explode.
[0013]
According to the above means, when the vehicle collides with another object, the collision detection signal from the collision sensor is input to the control device, the explosion command signal from the control device is transmitted to the gunpowder in the gunpowder chamber, and the gunpowder explodes. I'm damned. The explosive force of the gunpowder acts on the operating body fixed to the lock lever, and the operating body and the lock lever are rotated around the support shaft to release the tilt lock state of the tilt mechanism.
[0014]
Therefore, because the explosive force of gunpowder gives a rotational force to the lock lever via the operating body to release the tilt state, the force (rotation force) required for tilt release can be achieved with a very small amount of gunpowder. ) And the consumption of explosives is greatly reduced compared to the conventional one.
[0015]
In addition, since the explosive force of gunpowder directly acts on the lock lever for releasing the tilt, there is almost no delay from the detection of the impact to the release of the tilt state due to the rotation of the lock lever, and the weight of the components of the tilt releasing mechanism is also reduced. Since it is small, high response performance can be obtained, and the body protection of the occupant during the collision can be ensured.
[0016]
The collision sensor may be configured to receive an airbag signal that transmits a collision detection signal to a vehicle airbag and to simultaneously output an operation signal to both the explosive chamber and the airbag of the tilt release mechanism. It is a specific means of the present invention.
In this case, the air bag may be subject to the condition that the driver is wearing a seat belt.
[0017]
According to such means, since the airbag collision sensor and the control device can be used also for tilt cancellation, it is not necessary to provide a collision sensor and control device dedicated to tilt cancellation, and a low-cost device can be obtained.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified, but are merely illustrative examples. Only.
[0019]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a main part of a tilt release mechanism in a steering apparatus for an automobile according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view and FIG. 4 is an operation block diagram at the time of collision. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the main part of the steering device for a large truck, and FIG. 6 shows a structural diagram of the main part of the tilt releasing part.
[0020]
5 to 6, 15 is a steering column fixed to the vehicle body, 12 is a steering shaft rotatably supported inside the steering column 15, 18 is a universal joint, and 11 is an upper end of the steering shaft 12. It is a fixed steering wheel.
[0021]
Reference numeral 20 denotes a tilt mechanism. The steering device pulls the stopper 16 and the lock plate 13 of the tilt mechanism 20 with the serration portion 21 and engages them with the elastic force of the spring 14, thereby bringing the steering device 12 into an intermediate position. Equipped with tilted. Reference numeral 17 denotes a tilt release cam, and 1 denotes a lock lever connected to the cam 17.
[0022]
To release the tilt state in the steering device, the cam 17 connected to the lock lever 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow V by rotating the lock lever 1 in the direction of the arrow Z in FIG. The engaging groove 13a of the lock plate 13 is pushed downward. As a result, the lock plate 13 is rotated around the support shaft 13b and pushed down in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. 6 to disengage the serration 21 that is the engaging portion with the stopper 16, and the lock in the tilted state is released. Is done.
[0023]
FIGS. 1-3 which show embodiment of this invention show the structure of the tilt cancellation | release mechanism which cancels | releases the tilt lock of the tilt mechanism 20 of the steering apparatus shown by FIGS. 5-6 automatically at the time of the collision of a motor vehicle.
[0024]
1 to 3, reference numeral 2 denotes a lever support provided at an intermediate tilt portion of the steering shaft 12, and the lock lever 1 and the cam 17 are rotatable on a support shaft 6 fixed to the lever support 2. It is supported by. 6a is the center of the support shaft.
[0025]
Reference numeral 3 denotes a semi-annular housing fixed to the lever support 2, and a semi-annular space 7 whose lock lever 1 is closed is formed in the housing 3 as will be described later. Reference numeral 5 denotes an operating body protruding from the boss 1 a of the lock lever 1. The operating body 5 is fitted in the space 7 of the housing 3 so as to be rotatable in the circumferential direction of the support shaft 6. Yes. That is, when the lock lever 1 is rotated around the support shaft 6, the operating body 5 fixed to the lock lever 1 moves along the space 7.
[0026]
In the space 7, an explosive chamber 4 in which explosives are loaded is formed on the side facing one side of the operating body 5. A line 8 transmits an explosion signal to the explosive and is connected to a controller 100 described later.
[0027]
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram for controlling the explosion of the explosive in the explosive chamber 4 when the automobile collides with another object. In FIG. 4, from the collision sensor 31 for detecting the collision signal to the airbag 33 in FIG. The collision detection signal is input to both the air bag controller 102 and the lock lever gunpowder controller 101 of the controller 100. An impact detection signal from the lock lever gunpowder controller 101 is transmitted to the gunpowder 32 in the gunpowder chamber 4 of the tilt release mechanism, and an impact detection signal from the airbag controller 102 is transmitted to the airbag 33. Yes.
The airbag controller 102 is configured to take the detection signals from the seat belt detection sensor 103 and the collision sensor 31 and to operate the airbag on the condition that the driver is wearing the seat belt. May be.
[0028]
As described above, the collision detection signal from the collision sensor 31 is input to the lock lever explosive controller 101 of the controller 100, and the explosion command signal from the controller 101 is sent through the line 8 to the explosive in the explosive chamber 4. When transmitted to 32, the explosive explodes. This explosive force acts on one surface of the operating body 5 in the explosive chamber 4, and the operating body 5 is moved in the direction of the arrow R in FIGS.
[0029]
Thereby, the lock lever 1 to which the operating body 5 is fixed is rotated in the direction of the arrow M in FIG. 1, and the tilt state of the steering shaft 12 is released via the cam 17 (see FIG. 6) and the spring 14. As a result, the steering wheel 11 moves away from the body of the driver 50 (see FIG. 7), and is avoided from receiving pressure of impact force due to collision.
[0030]
As described above, in the tilt release mechanism according to this embodiment, the explosive force of the explosive 32 is applied to the operating body 5 fixed to the lock lever 1, and the rotational force is applied to the lock lever 1 via the operating body 5. And the tilt state is released by rotating the lock plate 13 and the stopper 16 via the lock lever 1 and the cam 17 so that the tilt state can be easily achieved. Release from is possible.
[0031]
Further, since the explosive force of the explosive is directly applied to the tilt release lock lever 1 to release the tilt state, there is almost no delay from the collision detection by the collision sensor 31 to the release of the tilt state by the rotation of the lock lever 1. In addition, since the tilt releasing member is light in weight, high response performance can be obtained, and the body of the occupant can be surely protected during a collision.
[0032]
Furthermore, since the collision sensor 31 and the controller 100 for the airbag 33 can be shared with those for tilt release, there is no need to provide a special tilt release collision sensor and controller, and the structure is simple and low cost. It becomes.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the tilting state is released by applying a rotational force to the lock lever via the operating body by the explosive force of the explosive, so that it is necessary to release the tilt with an extremely small amount of explosive. A force (rotational force) can be obtained, and the amount of explosive consumed can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional one.
[0034]
In addition, since the explosive force of gunpowder directly acts on the lock lever for releasing the tilt, there is almost no delay from the detection of the collision to the release of the tilt state due to the rotation of the lock lever, and the weight of the components of the tilt releasing mechanism is also reduced. Since it is small, high response performance can be obtained, and the body protection of the occupant during the collision can be ensured.
[0035]
Furthermore, if it is comprised like Claim 3, since the collision sensor and control apparatus for airbags can be used as a thing for tilt cancellation | release, it is not necessary to provide the collision sensor and control apparatus only for tilt cancellation | release, and a low-cost apparatus is possible. can get.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are front views of a tilt release mechanism in a steering apparatus for an automobile according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A shows a tilt state, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.
3 is a perspective view of a main part of the tilt release mechanism of FIG. 1; FIG.
4 is an operational block diagram at the time of collision in the embodiment of FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a main part of a steering device for a large truck.
FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of a main part of a tilt release mechanism in the steering device.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an action state of an impact force on a driver at the time of a collision.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lock lever 2 Lever support 3 Housing 4 Gunpowder chamber 5 Actuator 6 Support shaft 7 Space 11 Steering wheel 12 Steering shaft 13 Lock plate 14 Spring 15 Steering column 16 Stopper 20 Tilt mechanism 50 Driver

Claims (3)

A steering shaft having a steering wheel fixed to the upper part thereof is rotatably supported inside a steering column supported substantially vertically in the driver's seat of the vehicle, and the steering shaft is driven at the intermediate bending portion thereof. The bend portion is equipped with a lock mechanism that locks the tilt state of the steering shaft, and a tilt release mechanism that releases the tilt state by releasing the engagement of the lock mechanism. In the vehicle steering apparatus provided,
The tilt release mechanism is formed to be fixed to the lever support, and a lock lever that is rotatably supported by a lever support attached to the steering column via a support shaft to engage or release the lock mechanism. A housing having a semi-annular space along the rotation direction around the support shaft of the lock lever, and a projection protruding from the lock lever and fitted in the space of the housing so as to be rotatable in the rotation direction around the support shaft. And an explosive chamber in which explosives are loaded facing the working body in the space,
The explosive explosive force in the explosive chamber is applied to the operating body, and the tilting state is released by rotating the lock lever around the support shaft through the operating body. Steering device provided with a tilt release mechanism.   The tilt mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: a collision sensor that detects a collision with another object of the vehicle; and a control device that receives a collision detection signal from the collision sensor and explodes the explosive in the explosive chamber. Steering device.   The collision sensor shares a collision detection signal with a vehicle airbag collision sensor, and the control device receives the collision detection signal from the collision sensor, and receives the collision detection signal from the tilt release mechanism and the airbag. A steering apparatus comprising a tilt release mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the operation signal is simultaneously output to both.

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