JPH0221336Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a steering wheel that is assembled to the upper end of a steering main shaft of a vehicle.

[Prior art]

One type of steering wheel includes spokes that are integrally provided on the rim and protrude inward from the rim, and a boss plate that is integrally provided at the end of the spoke and located approximately in the center of the rim. There is a steering wheel that is supported on the driver's side by a synthetic resin lower cover, and the driver's side of the lower cover is covered with a synthetic resin top cover. Such a steering wheel is attached to the upper end of a steering main shaft that is configured to be compressively deformable in the axial direction during a vehicle collision.

FIG. 1 shows an example of this type of steering wheel, and the steering wheel includes spokes 1, a rim 2, a boss plate 7, a lower cover 1, and a lower cover 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.
1 and a top cover 14 (pad). The spokes 1 are integrally bent at both ends of an arc-shaped core metal 3 embedded in a synthetic resin rim 2, and extend inward of the rim 2, with bosses attached to both ends. Plate 7 is welded. The boss plate 7 is fitted onto the boss 6 for attachment to the steering main shaft and is located approximately at the center of the rim 2. The lower cover 11 is made of synthetic resin and is integrally formed with the rim 2. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower cover 11 is formed in the shape of a gutter that opens toward the driver.
Reinforcing ribs 12 and 13 are provided to bridge the side walls 11a and 11b and the bottom. In such a lower cover 11, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, approximately half of the outer periphery of the spokes 1 is exposed, and the boss plate 7 is completely buried, and the recess is covered with a soft synthetic resin top cover 14. has been done. This upper cover 14 is screwed to the lower cover 11. Note that reference numeral 4 indicates a core metal welded to both ends of the core metal 3, and the rim 2 is integrally attached to the core metal 3.
It is buried in

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, in such a steering wheel, the steering wheel is attached to the steering main shaft and is located in front of the driver as shown in FIGS. 4A and 5A. When the driver moves in the direction of arrow P and collides with the steering wheel, the wheel is greatly deformed due to the impact load as shown in FIGS. 4B and 5B, and the lower cover 11 is deformed as shown in FIG. Cracks 16 and 17 occur in the side wall portions 11a and 11b. When the lower cover 11 is provided with reinforcing ribs 12 and 13, these cracks occur between the reinforcing ribs.

One way to prevent cracks from occurring in the lower cover 11 is to increase the rigidity of the spokes 1, boss plate 7, and lower cover 11 more than necessary to reduce deformation. However, in order to adopt such means, the diameter of the spokes 1 must be increased, the thickness of the boss plate 7 must be increased, the wall thickness of the lower cover 11 must be increased, or the reinforcing ribs 12, 1 must be increased in thickness.
It is necessary to increase the number of parts 3 or to use materials with higher rigidity for these members, leading to an increase in weight and cost, and a decrease in productivity.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a steering wheel of the type described above, in which the spokes and the boss plate are buried in the lower cover, and the portion of the lower cover other than the spoke embedding portion is formed into a substantially flat plate shape. It is characterized by being able to follow the forward deformation of the spokes.

In the present invention, a substantially flat part of the lower cover means that there is no part or part that actively restricts the forward deformation of the lower cover, such as a side wall part or reinforcing ribs that protrudes toward the driver. means. Therefore, the term "substantially flat" includes a slightly curved cross-sectional shape.

[Functions and effects of the idea]

In a steering wheel with such a configuration, the lower cover does not have anything that actively restricts the deformation of the cover, such as side walls or reinforcing ribs, so when the steering wheel deforms forward, the lower cover follows the spokes and becomes integral with them. No deformation or cracks will occur. In this case, there is no need to increase the rigidity of the spokes, boss plate, lower cover, etc., so there is no increase in weight or price, and there is no decrease in productivity.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 6 to 8 show partial longitudinal sections of a steering wheel according to the present invention. 6th
7 and 7 show longitudinal sections of the steering wheel corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 3, and the steering wheel has a lower cover 11
The steering wheel is constructed in the same manner as the conventional steering wheel shown in FIG. 1 except for the shapes of the steering wheel A and the top cover 14A. Therefore, in FIGS. 6 to 8, the same components as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 are given the same reference numerals, and corresponding but not identical components are given similar numbers. has been done.

In this embodiment, the spokes 1 and the boss plate 7 are embedded in the lower cover 11A, and as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the portions on both sides of the spoke embedding portion of the lower cover 11A have a substantially flat plate shape.
Therefore, the lower cover 11A is different from the conventional lower cover 1.
1, side wall portions 11a, 11b, reinforcing rib 1
2, 13, etc. It does not have a part that restricts forward deformation. On the other hand, in the upper cover 14A, the side wall portions 14a and 14b are formed longer because the side wall portion of the lower cover 11A is omitted. As shown in FIG. 8, this upper cover 14A has a lower cover 1 attached to a protrusion 22 of a metal insert 21 fitted to a part of the inside of the cover 14A.
The same cover 11 is attached by the screw 23 screwed in from the 1A side.
A, and the tips of each side wall portion 14a, 14b face each side wall edge of the substantially flat lower cover 11A.

As described above, in the steering wheel of this embodiment, the lower cover 11A has a substantially flat plate shape except for the portion where the spokes 1 are buried, and positively restricts the forward deformation of the cover 11A, such as the side wall portion and reinforcing ribs. It does not have any. Therefore, the steering wheel does not deform forward and crack due to a collision with the driver. In this case, in order to unnecessarily increase the rigidity of the spokes 1, boss plate 7, and lower cover 11A, measures such as increasing the diameter of the spokes 1, increasing the thickness of the boss plate 8, and increasing the wall thickness of the lower cover 11A can be taken. Since it is completely unnecessary, there is no increase in weight or price, and there is no decrease in productivity. On the contrary, since the lower cover 11A is not provided with side walls, reinforcing ribs, etc., the molding die has a simple structure, so that productivity can be improved and costs can be reduced.

Note that the present invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings, and the spokes 1 and core metals 3 and 4 may have a different configuration from those shown in the drawings, and the spokes 1 may also use band-shaped plates instead of the round bars shown in the drawings. It is possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a front view of a conventional steering wheel, Figures 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of the conventional steering wheel taken along lines A-A and B-B in Figure 1, and A and B in Figure 4. and C are a side view of the conventional steering wheel before an impact load is applied to the steering wheel, a side view of the deformed steering wheel, and an enlarged perspective view of the spoke portion of the deformed lower cover. 6 and 7 are a plan view of the steering wheel before an impact load is applied to the steering wheel, a plan view of the deformed steering wheel, and an enlarged perspective view of the boss plate portion of the deformed lower cover. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the steering wheel corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 3, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting portion of the lower cover. Explanation of symbols, 1...Spoke, 2...Rim, 7
...Boss plate, 11,11A...Lower cover, 14,14A...Atsupa cover.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Spokes that are integrally provided on the rim and project inward of the rim, and boss plates that are integrally provided on the ends of the spokes and are located approximately in the center of the rim are made of synthetic resin on the side opposite to the driver. In a steering wheel which is supported by a synthetic resin lower cover and whose driver's side of the lower cover is covered by a synthetic resin atsupa cover, the spokes and boss plate are embedded in the lower cover, and the parts of the lower cover other than the spoke embedding parts are omitted. A steering wheel characterized in that the steering wheel has a flat plate shape and the lower cover can follow the forward deformation of the spokes.