JP4186634B2 - Steering device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a steering device that pivotally supports one end of a housing that supports a steering shaft on a vehicle body.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a steering apparatus for an automobile, for example, a tilt type having a tilt mechanism that can adjust a vertical position of a steering wheel with respect to a driver's seat is known.
[0003]
The tilt type steering device is spaced apart in the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the housing at the end opposite to the longitudinal steering wheel side of the cylindrical housing that rotatably accommodates and supports the steering shaft connected to the steering wheel. Each of the attachment pieces, and a hollow pivot shaft that is rotatably fitted over a pivot hole formed in each attachment piece, and is attached to the longitudinal central portion of the housing. And an adjustment lever for tilt adjustment (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
A through hole corresponding to the hollow hole of the pivot shaft is formed in two support plates facing the attachment piece in the vehicle body, and a core shaft made of a bolt is inserted into the through hole and the pivot shaft, The nut is screwed onto the threaded portion of the core shaft to fix the pivot to the vehicle body, and the one end of the housing is pivotally supported on the vehicle body via the pivot. Further, the housing can be swung with respect to the attachment by attaching the attachment to the vehicle body via an impact energy absorber and operating the adjustment lever.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-104204 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the steering device for pivotally supporting the housing to the vehicle body via the hollow pivot, a clearance for compensating for the swing of the housing having the attachment piece is provided between the pivot support hole of the attachment piece and the pivot. However, if the amount of this clearance is large, rattling will occur, and if the amount of clearance is small, the oscillating performance of the housing will deteriorate. Is set to
[0007]
Further, even when the pivot hole and the pivot are machined with the set dimensional tolerance, for example, when a pivot having a small dimensional tolerance is inserted into a pivot hole having a large dimensional tolerance, rattling is likely to occur. Therefore, it is difficult to manage the press-fit load and rotational torque of the pivot, and an improvement measure has been demanded.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can reduce the dependence on dimensional processing accuracy, and also when the rattling occurs between the pivotal support hole and the pivotal shaft. It is an object of the present invention to provide a steering device that can easily eliminate the above.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Steering apparatus according to the first invention is a steering apparatus for pivoting the housing to the vehicle body via a pivot to be inserted into the two pivot hole provided at one end portion of the housing supporting the steering shaft, wherein a pivot hole Each inner side has an annular ridge separated in the axial length direction, and the pivot has a bending allowance between two pivot holes.
[0010]
In the first invention, when there is a gap between the pivot hole and the pivot, and the rattling occurs due to the gap, the pivot is bent at the bending allowance portion, and the pivot is centered on the center of the pivot hole. Since the pivot can be brought into contact with the pivot hole by tilting, rattling can be easily eliminated without increasing the dimensional tolerance of the pivot hole and the pivot.
[0011]
The steering apparatus according to a second aspect is characterized in that the bending allowance portion is a bottom portion of a slit whose longitudinal direction is a radial direction of the pivot.
The steering apparatus according to a third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the bending allowance portion is an annular thin portion.
[0012]
In the second invention, since the bottom portion of the slit is the bending allowance portion, even if it is a hollow pivot, the bending allowance portion can be obtained without deforming the hollow hole.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating embodiments thereof.
1 is an enlarged plan view with a part cut away showing the configuration of the steering device, FIG. 2 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the steering device, FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion that pivotally supports the housing on the vehicle body, and FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the structure of a pivot hole part.
[0014]
The tilt type steering device includes a steering shaft 1 connected to a steering wheel for steering, a cylindrical housing 2 that houses the steering shaft 1 and rotatably supports the steering shaft 1, and a longitudinal steering wheel side of the housing 2. A pivot 3 for pivotally supporting the opposite end (lower side) of the end of the housing 2 on the vehicle body, an attachment 4 for attaching the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 to the vehicle body A, and an adjustment lever 5 for tilt adjustment are provided. Yes. A steering assist motor 6 is attached to the lower end of the housing 2, and a reduction gear mechanism (not shown) rotated by the motor 6 is housed and supported in the housing 2. .
[0015]
The housing 2 has a small-diameter cylindrical portion 2a that accommodates the steering shaft 1 and a large-diameter cylindrical portion 2b that accommodates a reduction gear mechanism. Two attachment pieces 21, 21 that are separated in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 are integrally projected on the large-diameter cylindrical portion 2 b, and the attachment pieces 21, 21 are separated from each other. Pivot support holes 22, 22 that penetrate therethrough are formed, and a hollow pivot shaft 3 is fitted into the pivot support holes 22, 22 so as to be relatively rotatable.
[0016]
Two annular ridges 23, 23 project from the inner sides of the respective pivot holes 22, 22 so as to be spaced apart in the axial length direction, and the outer circumferential surface of the pivot 3 is formed on the circumferential surface of each ridge 23, 23. Contact. Each of the ridges 23, 23 is formed by a thread of an internal thread screwed into the pivotal support holes 22, 22, and is formed by cutting off the thread of the central part in the axial length direction of the pivotal support holes 22, 22. Accordingly, each of the ridges 23, 23 is discontinuous over the entire circumference, but other ridges may be provided over the entire circumference instead of the threads, and without removing the threads. It is good also as a protruding item | line continuous over the perimeter.
[0017]
The pivot 3 has the same diameter at both ends, and is longer than the outer dimension of the attachment pieces 21, 21. A slit 31 whose longitudinal direction is the radial direction of the pivot 3 is provided at the central portion of the pivot 3 in the axial direction, and the bottom of the slit 31 is used as a bending allowance 32. The slit 31 has a width of about 1 mm and is formed over a position exceeding the hollow hole 3a. When the bending allowance portion 32 bends, the width of the slit 31 becomes narrower and the axis of the pivot 3 is bent. Inclined from 32 to both ends, and even when a clearance is generated between the pivot holes 22 and 22 and the pivot 3, the pivot 3 comes into contact with the ridges 23 and 23 of the pivot holes 22 and 22. It is.
[0018]
The vehicle body A that pivotally supports the steering device configured as described above is provided with through holes B and B that are separated by a distance corresponding to the length of the pivot 3 and that correspond to the hollow hole 3a of the pivot 3. Support plates C and C are provided. When the steering device is attached to the vehicle body A, the attachment pieces 21, 21 of the housing 2 with the pivot 3 inserted in the pivot holes 22, 22 of the attachment pieces 21, 21 of the housing 2. Is inserted between the support plates C and C, and the core shaft 7 made of bolts is inserted into the hollow holes 3a of the support shafts C and C and through the B and B and the pivot shaft 3, respectively. By screwing the nut 8, the pivot 3 is attached between the support plates C and C, and the housing 2 is pivotally supported on the vehicle body A via the pivot 3.
[0019]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the pivot is bent at the bending allowance portion.
Due to this pivotal support, loads of the steering shaft 1, the housing 2, the reduction gear mechanism and the like are applied to the pivot 3 via the attachment pieces 21, 21. 23, the pivot 3 fixed to the vehicle body A is not bent by the bending allowance portion 32 when there is no gap between the pivot support holes 22, 22 (projections) and the pivot 3. However, when a gap is generated between the pivot support holes 22, 22 (projections) and the pivot 3, the pivot 3 slightly bends at the bending allowance portion 32 due to the load applied to the pivot 3 from the attachment pieces 21, 21. The pivot 3 is slightly inclined with respect to the center of the pivot holes 22 and 22 from the bending allowance portion 32 to both ends. Due to the inclination of the pivot 3, the pivot 3 reliably comes into contact with the points a and b of the ridges 23 and 23 of the pivot holes 22 and 22, and the noise due to the gap between the pivot holes 22 and 22 and the pivot 3 is generated. Can be eliminated.
[0020]
Thus, even when a gap is generated between the pivot support holes 22 and 22 and the pivot 3, the pivot 3 can be bent by the bending allowance portion 32 by a load when attached to the vehicle body A. The dimensional tolerances of the support holes 22 and 22 and the pivot 3 can be reduced, the workability can be improved, the assembly workability can be improved, and the distance between the support holes 22 and 22 and the pivot 3 can be increased. Defective products due to noise in the gap can be reduced.
[0021]
In the embodiment described above, the ridges 23, 23 are provided inside the pivot holes 22, 22, but the pivot holes 22, 22 may be configured without the ridges 23, 23. Further, it may be a curved surface that is convex over both ends.
Further, in the embodiment described above, the bottom portion of the slit 31 is the bending allowance portion 32. However, instead of the slit 31, an annular thin portion is provided in the middle of the pivot 3, and the thin portion is used as the bending allowance portion 32. Therefore, the configuration of the bending permission portion 32 is not particularly limited. Further, in the embodiment, the hollow pivot 3 is used, and the pivot 3 is fixed to the vehicle body A by the core shaft 7 inserted into the hollow hole 3 a of the pivot 3. 3 may be fixed to the vehicle body A. Further, the pivot 3 may be a solid axis.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the first invention, the rattling can be easily eliminated without increasing the dimensional tolerances of the pivot support shaft and the pivot shaft, so that the workability can be improved and the assembly can be performed. Workability can be improved, and in addition, defective products due to sound generated in the clearance between the pivot hole and the pivot can be reduced.
[0023]
According to the second invention, even if it is a hollow pivot, a bending permission portion can be obtained without deforming the hollow hole.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view with a part cut away showing a configuration of a steering device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing an overall configuration of a steering apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion that pivotally supports a housing of a steering device according to the present invention on a vehicle body.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a pivot hole portion of the steering device according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the pivot of the steering device according to the present invention is bent at a bending allowance portion.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Steering shaft 2 Housing 22 Pivoting hole 3 Pivoting shaft 31 Slit 32 Bending allowance

Claims (3)

In a steering apparatus for pivotally supporting the housing on a vehicle body via a pivot shaft inserted into two pivot support holes provided at one end of the housing that supports the steering shaft, the inner side of each pivot hole is in the axial length direction. A steering apparatus having an annular ridge that is spaced apart, and the pivot having a bending allowance between two pivot support holes.   The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bending allowance portion is a bottom portion of a slit whose longitudinal direction is a radial direction of the pivot. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bending allowance portion is an annular thin portion.

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