JP5376700B2 - Automotive steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering wheel for an automobile, without rocking an airbag module, even if vibration caused by travel of the automobile is applied, by installing the airbag module in a single operation. <P>SOLUTION: An airbag module support part 4 is composed of a first hook member for arranging first guide parts in a pair for guiding a support 11 held by a fixing member 13 arranged in the airbag module 5 up to a locking position from a deflecting position, a second hook member 26 having a second guide part 10 capable of guiding a support similarly held by the fixing member 13 up to the locking position from the deflecting position and arranged in a position of not crossing with a line of connecting the mutual first guide parts, and an insulator 12 interposed between the supports 11 in a row of the respective first hook members and the second hook member 26. The first hook member is provided with a projection part for pushing out the support 11 to the fixing member 13 side from a bottom surface position of the insulator 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automobile steering wheel, and more particularly to an automobile steering wheel provided with an airbag module for protecting an occupant.

  Conventional automobile steering wheels, particularly automobile steering wheels that can be assembled with a single touch of an air bag module that protects an occupant, include a steering wheel body, a fixed plate, a movable plate, and two coiled springs on the left and right. The spring is held by the movable plate, and the arm portion extends from the end of the spring, and a middle portion of the spring protrudes from the outer periphery of the movable plate. When the movable plate is formed and pushed into the fixed plate, the engaging claw engages with the arm portion, and the movable plate can be connected to the fixed plate with one touch. When the knob portion is pushed into the movable plate, the arm portion bends inward, the engagement between the engaging claw and the arm portion is released, and the movable plate can be detached from the fixed plate (prior art document 1). Known as the prior art.

JP 2007-296922 A

  However, in this conventional technique, since the springs are provided at two positions on the left and right, there is a possibility that the airbag module itself may be swung due to vibration accompanying the traveling of the automobile.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention maintains a function of attaching an airbag module with a single touch, and even if vibration associated with traveling of the automobile is applied, the automobile does not have a possibility of swinging. A steering wheel is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle steering wheel according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a boss portion that can be supported on an upper end portion of a steering shaft, a rim portion that can be gripped by a driver, and the boss portion. And an airbag module support portion formed between the rim portions, and an airbag that is always folded and disposed, and that can be protected by a gas from an inflator so as to protect an occupant. An automotive steering wheel comprising at least an airbag module that is detachably supported by a module support portion, wherein the airbag module support portion is formed by a fixing member provided on the back side of the airbag module. A metal support that can guide the held metal support from the bent position to the locked position. A first hook member having guide portions arranged in a pair and a second guide portion made of metal capable of guiding a support body, which is also held by the fixing member, from a bending position to a locking position, and the first hook member. A second hook member disposed at a position not intersecting with a line connecting one guide portion; a non-metallic insulator interposed between each of the first hook member, the second hook member and the support; Further, the first hook member has a protrusion that protrudes the support from the position of the bottom surface of the insulator toward the fixing member.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automotive steering wheel according to the first aspect, wherein the support body is made of a spring steel material disposed on the bottom surface of the airbag module and capable of returning from the bent position to the locked position. By detaching from both the first hook members, the airbag module can be rotated with the engaging portion of the second hook member as a fulcrum, and from the engaging portion with the second hook member. It is characterized by being detachable.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the air bag module support portion can guide the metal support body held by the fixing member provided on the back side of the air bag module from the bending position to the locking position. A first hook member formed of a pair of metal first guide portions and a second guide made of metal capable of guiding a support body, which is also held by the fixing member, from a bending position to a locking position. And the second hook member disposed at a position not intersecting with the line connecting the first guide portions, the airbag module is simply pushed into the airbag module support portion. The module is provided with at least three first hook members and second hook members while maintaining the function of being attached to the airbag module support portion with one touch. Since being made, even if applied vibration due to travel of the vehicle in the airbag module, the airbag module there is no fear of rocking. Further, each of the first hook member, the second hook member, and the support body are all made of metal, but since non-metal insulators are respectively interposed, there is no metal contact, and abnormal noise is generated. There will be no fear. Furthermore, since the first guide part has a protrusion that protrudes from the bottom surface position of the insulator toward the fixing member, even if an assembly error or an accuracy error of the product itself occurs, the support body can be moved to the first guide part. There is an effect that there is no fear of being caught in a gap between the portion and the insulator.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the support body is made of a spring steel material disposed on the bottom surface of the airbag module and capable of returning from the bent position to the locked position, and is detached from both the first hook members. Since the airbag module can be rotated with the engaging portion of the second hook member as a fulcrum, the airbag module can be detached from the engaging portion with the second hook member. Can be removed from the airbag module support portion with a single touch.

The perspective view of the steering wheel for motor vehicles carrying the airbag module which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. The expanded sectional view along the SA-SA line of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a state in which the airbag module support body is engaged with a first hook member of the airbag module support portion along the line SB-SB in FIG. 2; Sectional drawing which expanded and showed the C section of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a state in which a support body of the airbag module is engaged with a second hook member of the airbag module support portion of FIG. 2. Sectional drawing which expanded and showed the D section of FIG. The front view seen from the back surface of the airbag module of FIG. The perspective view of FIG. The front view of the airbag module support part of FIG. The perspective view seen from the upper side of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automobile steering wheel that maintains the function of attaching an airbag module with a single touch and that does not cause the airbag module to swing even when vibrations are caused by the traveling of the automobile. A boss portion that can be supported on the upper end portion of the steering shaft, a rim portion that can be gripped by the driver, and an airbag module support portion that is formed between the boss portion and the rim portion, and is always folded. An automobile comprising an airbag module that can be protected by being inflated by gas from an inflator and is detachably supported by the airbag module support portion. Steering wheel, wherein the airbag module support is A first metal guide portion that can guide a metal support held by a fixing member provided on the back side of the airbag module from a bent position to a locked position in a pair. A hook member and a second guide portion made of metal that can guide the support member, which is also held by the fixing member, from the bending position to the locking position, and at a position that does not intersect the line connecting the first guide portions. A second hook member disposed, and each of the first hook member, the second hook member, and a non-metallic insulator interposed between the support members. This is realized by having a protrusion that protrudes from the bottom surface position of the insulator toward the fixing member. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  A structure according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicle steering wheel 1 according to the first embodiment includes a metal boss portion 3 that can be supported on the upper end portion of the steering shaft 2, a rim portion 6 that can be gripped by a driver (not shown), the boss portion 3, and the boss portion 3. An air bag module support portion 4 formed between the rim portions 6 and an air bag 17 which is always folded and arranged and can be protected by a gas from the inflator 14 to inflate a driver (not shown). And an air bag module 5 that is detachably supported by the air bag module support portion 4. Here, “at least” is because there are various constituent members other than those shown in the first embodiment, such as a horn mechanism and switches. Reference numeral 7 shown in FIG. 1 is a spoke connecting the boss 3 and the rim 6.

  As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the airbag module support portion 4 includes a metal base portion 8 connected to the boss portion 3 and first guide portions 20 and 20 that are inclined with metal on the upper side. A line (not shown as a specific line in FIG. 9) connecting the first hook members 25, 25 arranged in a pair on the left and right and the lower side, that is, the first guide parts 20, 20 with a straight line. ) And the second hook member 26 having the second guide portion 10 having a sloped shape made of metal disposed at a position not intersecting with the second hook member 26.

  Reference numeral 12 denotes a non-metallic insulator interposed between the first hook members 25 and 25, the second hook member 26, and fixing members 13 and 13, which will be described later, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6. The first support member 22 and the second support member 11, which will be described later, and the first hook members 25 and 25 and the second hook member 26 are prevented from being in direct contact with each other. The insulator 12 is formed integrally with a back cover 9 that covers the airbag module support portion 4 from the steering shaft 2 side.

  2, 3, 5, 9, and 10, a buffer 23 is inserted through through holes 25 a and 26 a provided in the first hook members 25 and 25 and the second hook member 26. It is a pole and is formed integrally with the back cover 9.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first hook members 25, 25 have the first support members 22, 22 protruding from the position of the engaging portion 19 on the bottom surface of the insulator 12 toward the fixing member 13. Has a protrusion 21 protruding 0.5 mm. Although the projecting allowance h is 0.5 mm, it is important to prevent the insulator 12 and the first support bodies 22 from being caught even if dimensional tolerances are taken into account.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the airbag module 5 is provided in pairs in the inflator 14 arranged in the middle and the left and right end portions on the upper side in FIG. The fixing member 13 made of glass-filled nylon is provided in the middle of the left and right sides of the lower side of the figure, and is held by the two fixing members 13 and 13 on the upper side of FIG. The first support bodies 22 and 22 that are the “support bodies” and the second support that is the “support body” that is held by the one fixing member 13 on the lower side of FIG. The body 11 and coil-like springs 15 and 15 held on the bottom surfaces of the two fixing members 13 and 13 on the upper side in FIG. Reference numeral 16 denotes a cover member on the front side of the airbag module 5. In the middle of each of the fixing members 13, a notch 13 a is formed through which the first support bodies 22, 22 and the second support body 11 are exposed. The other end portions 22b and 22b of the first support bodies 22 and 22 exposed from the cutout portion 13a and the other end portion 11b of the second support body 11 are connected to the first guide portions 20 and 20 and the second portion. The guide unit 10 can guide from the bending position to the locking position. Reference numerals 22 a and 22 a are one end portions of the first support bodies 22 and 22, and reference numeral 11 a is one end section of the second support body 11.

  The first support body 22 and the second support body 11 are disposed on the bottom surface of the airbag module 5, and are engaged with the other end portions 22 b and 22 b of the first support bodies 22 and 22 and the first hook members 25 and 25. There is a difference in the vertical height width H between the joint portion 19 (see FIG. 2) and the other end portion 11b of the second support 11 and the engaging portion 18 (see FIG. 2) of the second hook member 26. is there.

  When the airbag module 5 is put on the airbag module support portion 4, the first support bodies 22, 22 and the other end portions 22b, 11b of the second support body 11 are shown by two-dot chain lines in FIG. In addition, the first guide portion 20 and the second guide portion 10 are stopped, but when the airbag module 5 is pushed in, one end portion is shown as a white arrow E in FIG. 3 and a white arrow G in FIG. 22a and 11a are lowered as they are, and the other end portions 22b and 11b are bent, and can enter the fixing member 13 as indicated by the white arrow F in FIG. 3 and the white arrow J in FIG.

  When removing the airbag module 5 from the airbag module support portion 4, first, the other end portions 22b and 22b of the first support bodies 22 and 22 are bent in the direction of the white arrow K in FIGS. Then, the first hook members 25 and 25 are separated from each other. Then, the airbag module 5 is lifted in the direction of the white arrow L in FIG.

  The other end portions 22b and 22b of the first support members 22 and 22 and the engaging portion 19 (see FIG. 2) of the first hook members 25 and 25, the other end portion 11b of the second support member 11 and the second portion. Since there is a difference in the vertical height width H between the engaging portion 18 (see FIG. 2) of the hook member 26, the engaging portion of the second hook member 26, that is, the second guide portion 10 and the fixing member 13. And the portion engaged with the insulator 12 via the insulator 12 as a fulcrum, the air bag module 5 can be rotated, so that the acting force in the direction of the white arrow K in FIG. It becomes possible to detach from the engaging portion with the hook member 26.

  The first support bodies 22 and 22 and the second support body 11 are substantially U-shaped with respect to the one end portions 22a and 11a from a spring steel material in which the other end portions 22b and 11b can return from the bending position to the locking position. Formed. As shown in FIG. 6, the insulator 12 has a portion 12 a that goes around the side of the second guide portion 10 and protects it.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

  The airbag module support 4 guides the other end 22b of the first metal support 22 held by the fixing member 13 provided on the back side of the airbag module 5 from the bent position to the locked position. The first hook members 25, 25 formed by arranging the first metal guide portions 20, 20 that are possible in pairs, and the other end portion 11 b of the second support body 11 that is also held by the fixing member 13. The second hook member 26 is provided with a second guide portion 10 made of metal that can be guided from the bending position to the locking position, and disposed at a position that does not intersect the line connecting the first guide portions 20 and 20. Therefore, the airbag module 5 can be attached to the airbag module support portion 4 with one touch only by pushing the airbag module 5 into the airbag module support portion 4. It has maintained a function.

  Since the first hook members 25, 25 and the second hook member 26 are provided in at least three directions, the airbag module 5 swings even when vibrations caused by traveling of the automobile are applied to the airbag module 5. There is no fear. The first hook members 25 and 25, the second hook member 26, the first support body 22 and the second support body 11 are all made of metal, but non-metal insulators 12 are interposed respectively. Therefore, there is no metal contact, and there is no possibility of noise generation.

  Furthermore, since the first guide portion 20 has a projection 21 that protrudes from the bottom surface position of the insulator 12 toward the fixing member 13, the first support portion can be used even if an assembly error or a product accuracy error occurs. There is an effect that the body 22 is not likely to be caught in the gap between the first guide portion 20 and the insulator 12.

  The first support body 22 and the second support body 11 are arranged on the bottom surface of the airbag module 5 and the other end portions 22b and 11b of the first support body 22 and the second support body 11 are bent from the bent position. The airbag module 5 is made of a spring steel material that can be returned to the locking position, and the airbag module 5 is rotated with the engaging portion 18 of the second hook member 26 as a fulcrum by detaching from both the first hook members 25, 25. Since it becomes possible to detach | leave from the engaging part 18 with the said 2nd hook member 26, there exists an effect that the said airbag module 5 can be removed from the said airbag module support part 4 by one touch.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Steering wheel for motor vehicles 2 Steering shaft 3 Boss part 4 Airbag module support part 5 Airbag module 6 Rim part 10 2nd guide part 11 2nd support body (support body)
11b Other end portion of second support 12 Insulator 13 Fixing member 18, 19 Engagement portion 20 First guide portion 21 Projection portion 22 First support body (support body)
22b The other end of the first support 25 First hook member 26 Second hook member

Claims (2)

A boss portion that can be supported by the upper end portion of the steering shaft, a rim portion that can be gripped by the driver, and an airbag module support portion that is formed between the boss portion and the rim portion, are always folded and arranged. And an airbag module comprising an airbag capable of protecting an occupant by being inflated by gas from an inflator and detachably supported by the airbag module support portion. A steering wheel,
The airbag module support portion is a pair of a first guide portion made of metal that can guide a metal support held by a fixing member provided on the back side of the airbag module from a bending position to a locking position. A first hook member arranged in a shape and a second guide portion made of metal that can guide the support member held by the fixing member from a bent position to a locked position, and between the first guide portions A second hook member disposed at a position not intersecting with the line connecting the first hook member, a non-metallic insulator interposed between each of the first hook member and the second hook member and the support, A steering wheel for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the first hook member has a protrusion that protrudes the support from the bottom surface position of the insulator toward the fixing member. The automobile steering wheel according to claim 1,
The support body is made of a spring steel material disposed on the bottom surface of the airbag module and capable of returning from the bent position to the locked position, and is disengaged from both the first hook members to engage the second hook members. An automobile steering wheel characterized in that the airbag module can be rotated from the engaging portion with the second hook member by using the portion as a fulcrum.

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