JPH0234144Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention provides that even if the tension coil spring that brings the steering wheel to the flip-up position breaks for some reason, the broken part will not fall or hang down in other places. The present invention relates to a tilt type steering device having a mechanism that does not interfere with the function of this part.

Conventionally, for example, an Atsupa column rotatably supported an Atsupa steering shaft to which a steering handle was attached, and a so-called neck column rotatably supported a lower steering shaft fixed to the vehicle body and connected to a steering gear and tilted with respect to the lower column. In the swing tilt type steering device,
The flip-up tension coil spring is stretched between the upper column side and the lower column side, and is arranged above the universal joint of the upper and lower steering shafts, which are the tilt centers, in order to bias the upper column upward. . In the case of such a spring arrangement, if the coil spring breaks, the broken part will fall or sag under its own weight into a gap in the bracket on the top or side of the universal joint. If this happens, the broken spring may become stuck between the universal joints, interfering with the function of that part and causing difficulty in steering the steering wheel, which poses a serious safety problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tilt type steering device which prevents the above situation from occurring even if the flip-up tension coil spring should break.

In order to achieve this purpose, in this invention,
a fixed part that is fixed to the vehicle body and rotatably supports the lower steering shaft; and a fixed part that rotatably supports the atspa steering shaft, which has a steering handle fixed to its upper end and is connected to the lower steering shaft via a universal joint. a support part tiltably connected to a fixed part by a tilt axis; a fixing/releasing means for fixing or releasing the fixed part to the fixed part at a selected tilt angle position; and the supporting part and the fixing part. a tension coil spring that is tensioned between the tension coil spring and the tension coil spring and urges the support part in a flip-up direction; The wire member is provided with a floating support that does not hinder expansion and contraction in the longitudinal direction, and a wire member that is supported by the support portion and the fixed portion so as not to fall off.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, which shows the entire tilting type steering device, an Atsupa steering shaft 2 to which a steering handle 1 is attached is rotatably supported by an Atsupa column 3 serving as a support part, and a steering gear 4 is connected to the Atsupa steering shaft 2, which is a support section. A lower steering shaft 6 connected via a universal joint 5 is rotatably supported by a lower column 7 as a fixed part. The lower column 7 is fixed to an instrument panel 9 on the vehicle body side by a mounting bracket 8, and a lower bracket 10 is integrally attached to the upper part of the lower column 7. Atsupa steering shaft 2
is connected to the lower steering shaft 6 via a universal joint 11 shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, so that it can tilt and transmit torque.

Atsupa bracket 1 is installed at the bottom of Atsupa column 3.
2 are integrally attached, and both brackets 10, 1
2 are connected as follows.

In FIG. 2, the top bracket 12 has left and right bent portions 14 extending parallel to the tilt direction from both sides of the base material 13 (in FIG. 2, the right bent portion is the left bent portion 14).
The lower bracket 10 extends parallel to the tilt direction from both sides of the base 15 and partially overlaps the inside of the left and right bent portions 14 of the upper bracket 12. It has a left and right bending part 16 (the right bending part is also hidden and cannot be seen in FIG. 2). The upper bracket 12 has a pair of tilt shafts 17 (only the one on the near side is visible in FIG. 2) attached to the lower bracket 10 along the center line of the universal joint 11 at this overlapping part. They are connected so as to be tiltable around this center line.

Next, the left and right bent portions 1 of both brackets 10 and 12 are
A tilt lever 20, which is an operating member, is attached by a mounting bolt 19 to the tightening means, that is, the fixing/releasing means, which is made of a bolt (not shown) or the like that extends through the holes 4 and 16. By rotating the tilt lever 20 around the mounting bolt 19, the left and right bent portions 14, 16 of both the brackets 10, 12 are pressed against each other by the action of the tightening means, and the right bent portions 16 are pressed against each other. is placed in a fixed state or in a tiltable released state with respect to the lower bracket 10 at a selected tilt angle position.

Next, a tension coil spring 21 is stretched between both brackets 10 and 12 at a position above the steering shaft, and biases the upper bracket 12 in the flip-up direction, and moves the tilt lever 20 to the right in the release direction. When the upper bracket 12 is brought to a tiltable release state by loosening the threaded portion of the tightening means, the upper bracket 12 is flipped up around the tilt shaft 17 by the force of the tension coil spring 21, and the steering handle is lifted up. 1 assumes the flip-up position shown by the dashed line in the upper part of FIG. If the steering handle 1 is pushed down from this flip-up position to a desired position and the tilt lever 20 is then turned to the left in the tightening direction, the bracket is tightened by the tightening means and the upper bracket 12 is fixed.
In this way, the steering handle 1 is set at a desired mounting angle.

A wire member 22 serving as a penetrating member extends longitudinally through the inner space of the tension coil spring 21. The wire member 22 is connected to both brackets 10 and 1 so as to allow expansion and contraction of the tension coil spring 21 in the longitudinal direction as the upper bracket 12 tilts.
It is spread between the two. Details will be explained with reference to FIG. One end hook 23 of the tension coil spring 21 is engaged with a spring fixing pin 24 on the upper bracket 12 side, and the other end hook 25 is engaged with the lower bracket 1.
It is inserted into the small assembly hole 26 on the 0 side. One end 27 of the wire member 22 is attached to the pin 24.
On the other hand, the end portion 28 passes through the small hole 26 with a gap and is attached by bending the tip portion 29 at the lower limit position of the tilt so that it cannot fall off. As a result, even if the distance between the pin 24 and the small hole 26 changes due to expansion and contraction of the tension coil spring 21 by changing the tilt angle, the wire 22
Since the end portion 28 is freely movable, the tension coil spring 21 is allowed to expand and contract in conjunction with the tilt operation.

FIG. 4 shows how one end 27 of the wire member 22 is wound and fixed around the pin 24.

In FIG. 2, the member 30 is a retaining ring for fixing the pin 24 to the upper bracket 12, and the member 31 deforms while absorbing energy in the event of a collision, causing the lower bracket 10 to move to the left. It is an energy absorbing plate that allows movement.

With the above structure, even if the coil spring 21 were to break, the broken part would be supported by the wire member 22 and would not fall or sag. Therefore, the functions of parts such as the universal joint 11 are not hindered, and steering operation of the steering wheel is not hindered.

As described above, according to the present invention, the tension coil spring extends in the longitudinal direction through the inner space of the tension coil spring that is stretched between the support part and the fixed part and urges the support part in the upward direction. The end part is a floating support that does not hinder the longitudinal expansion and contraction of the tension coil spring, and the supporting part and the fixed part are provided with wire members that are supported so that they cannot fall off, so even if the tension coil spring breaks, other parts cannot be removed. is not affected by this, and a tilt-type steering device with extremely high safety can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an overall view of the tilt type steering device.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the main parts of the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a detailed side view of the coil spring portion, and FIGS. 4a and 4b are diagrams illustrating a method of attaching and fixing the end of the wire member. Explanation of symbols of main parts, 7, 10...Fixed part,
1... Handle, 3, 12... Support part, 19, 2
0... Fixing/releasing means, 21... Tension coil spring, 22... Wire member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a fixed part that is fixed to the vehicle body and rotatably supports the lower steering shaft; and a fixed part that rotatably supports the atspa steering shaft, which has a steering handle fixed to its upper end and is connected to the lower steering shaft via a universal joint. a support part tiltably connected to a fixed part by a tilt axis; a fixing/releasing means for fixing or releasing the support part to the fixed part at a selected tilt angle position; and the support part and the fixing part. a tension coil spring that is tensioned between the support portion and the support portion and urges the support portion in the upward direction;
It penetrates the inner space of the tension coil spring in the longitudinal direction, and at least one end is a floating support that does not hinder the longitudinal expansion and contraction of the tension coil spring, and is supported by the support part and the fixed part so that it cannot fall off. A tilt type steering device equipped with a wire member.