JPH0241456B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a steering wheel having a non-rotating pad using a planetary gear mechanism, and more particularly to the structure of a boss plate for mounting a bearing member of a planetary member.

Prior Art Conventionally, in a non-rotating pad steering wheel using a planetary gear mechanism, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, sun gears 51 on the column side and pad side,
52 to the boss 5 via bearings 53 and 54, respectively.
It was installed on the outer circumference of 5. On the other hand, the same sun gear 5
The column-side and pad-side planetary gears 56 and 57 that mesh with 1 and 52 are attached to the planetary shaft 58, and the planetary shaft 58 is inserted into the mounting recess 61 formed in the edge of the boss plate 60 through the bearing member 59.
It was installed inside.

That is, since the sun gears 51 and 52 are mounted at right angles to the boss 55 and the planetary gear shaft 58 is mounted at right angles to the boss plate 60, the boss 55
If the squareness of the boss plate 60 is low, the sun gear 5
1 and 52, the planetary gears 56 and 57 mesh with each other at an angle. Therefore, it was necessary to increase the perpendicularity angle.

However, in general, due to the need for ease of manufacturing and cost reduction, the boss 55 is
and a boss plate 60 are formed separately, and a boss plate 6 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the boss 55 at approximately the center in the axial direction.
By welding and fixing 0, the two are integrated. At this time, due to errors during welding, the boss plate 60 may be installed at an angle, or the perpendicularity may be reduced due to distortion caused by welding heat, which may cause rattling or abnormal noise in the gear, and even cause the pad portion to shake. It was hot. Further, when machining the boss 55, the central axis from the outer peripheral surface of the boss may be eccentric from the central axis of the steering wheel shaft, which may cause the pad portion to swing.

Now, if the boss 55 and the boss plate 60 are integrally formed by cutting as shown in FIG. 4, the above perpendicularity can be increased, but mass production is difficult due to processing time and high cost. Ta.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to inject resin onto the outer periphery of the boss so that the central axis from the outer periphery of the boss and the central axis of the steering shaft can be The outer circumferential surface of the boss can be finished smoothly.
Furthermore, the planetary gear is meshed parallel to the sun gear,
To provide a novel steering wheel capable of preventing rattling of gears, generation of abnormal noise, and vibration of a pad part.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an injection part formed by injection molding of synthetic resin on the outer periphery of the boss, and a sun gear is attached to the injection part via a sliding member such as a bearing. As a result, the sun gear tooth surface and the planetary gear tooth surface are parallel to each other.

Examples Examples 5 to 8 which embody this invention will be described below.
This will be explained according to the diagram.

In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a column of an automobile, into which a steering shaft 2 passes and projects forward. 3 is a boss fixed to the tip of the steering shaft 2 with a nut 4. Reference numeral 5 designates a boss plate welded and fixed onto the outer circumferential surface of the boss 3 at approximately the center in the axial direction.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an injection part formed by injection molding polyamide resin so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the boss 3, and the outer peripheral surface is formed so that the sun gear tooth surface and the planetary gear tooth surface are parallel to each other.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a rectangular mounting recess formed in two places on the edge of the boss plate 5, into which a bearing member to be described later is fitted. Further, resin 9a is injected around one of the mounting recesses 9 by a method described later. Reference numeral 10 denotes a spring storage recess provided on the edge of the boss plate 5 adjacent to the mounting recess 9, and further adjacent to the spring storage recess 10, a hook-shaped hooking recess 11 is cut out.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a ring portion for performing a steering operation, and is supported by a single spoke 13 that extends integrally from the boss plate 5.

14 is a bearing 1 on the outer periphery of the boss 3 on the column side.
It is a column-side sun gear mounted so as to be rotatable relative to the column 1 via a locking bolt 16, and is fixed to the end face of the column 1 with a locking bolt 16 so as not to rotate with respect to the column 1. Numeral 17 is a pad-side sun gear mounted on the pad-side outer periphery of the boss 3 through a bearing 18 so as to be relatively rotatable, and is formed to have the same diameter and the same number of teeth as the column-side sun gear 14. 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a pad portion attached to the front surface of the pad side sun gear 17 with bolts 20, and is used for electronic devices such as various switches, sound generators, and displays (not shown).
It is now possible to install.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a planetary shaft rotatably mounted in the mounting recess 9 by a bearing member described later.
Reference numerals 22 and 23 denote column-side and pad-side planetary gears formed to have the same diameter and the same number of teeth, and are attached to both ends of each planetary shaft 21 by means of splines, crimping, screwing, etc., respectively. It meshes with sun gears 14 and 17 on the column and pad sides, allowing it to revolve while rotating. Here, the planetary shaft 21 and the planetary gear 2 attached thereto
2 and 23 will be collectively referred to as a planetary member 24.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a bearing member for pivotally supporting and locking the planetary member 24, which is made of polyacetal and is fitted into the mounting recess 9. Reference numeral 26 denotes a U-shaped holding groove recessed inside the bearing member 25, the bottom of which contacts the planetary shaft 21 as a sliding bearing.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a flange portion integrally formed to protrude upward and downward from both sides of the bearing member 25, and both front and rear surfaces of the boss plate 5 are sandwiched between the upper and lower flange portions 27 so as to come into contact with each other. 28 is a bearing member 25
It is a side surface portion exposed between the above-mentioned flange portions 27 on both sides, and is fitted into the mounting recess 9 so as to come into contact with both inner side surfaces 29 thereof. Therefore, the holding groove 26 of the bearing member 25 is parallel to the outer periphery of the boss 3. Reference numeral 30 indicates two guide grooves provided on the outer surface of the bearing member 25.

Further, both front and rear end surfaces of the bearing member 25 are connected to each planetary gear 2.
The position of the gears 22, 23 is regulated by contacting the inner end surfaces of the gears 22, 23.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a biasing member made of a metal wire that is stretched around the bearing member 25. A U-shaped hooking portion 32 is bent at one end and is hooked into the hooking recess 11. Reference numeral 33 denotes a pair of wire portions extending from the hook portion 32, and a coil spring 34 that fits in the spring storage recess 10 is integrally formed in the middle of each wire portion. Reference numeral 35 denotes a hook formed in a curved manner at the tip of each wire portion 33, and is hooked to a locking pin 36 protruding from both sides of the boss plate 5.

Due to the elastic force of the coil spring 34, the wire portion 33 of the biasing member 31 is stretched around the guide groove 30 of the bearing member 25 in a mountain shape under tension. It is urged toward the bottom of the mounting recess 9. Therefore, each of the planetary gears 22 and 23 is always pressed against the sun gears 14 and 17, so that backlash between the gears is suppressed.

Next, a method of assembling the steering wheel configured as described above will be explained.

First, the boss plate 5 is formed by an easy processing method such as press working, and the mounting recess 9 is provided at the same time.

Next, the boss plate 5 is fitted onto the outer circumferential surface of the substantially central portion of the boss 3 in the axial direction, and after the two are positioned substantially at right angles, they are fixed by welding. At this time, the perpendicularity between the boss plate 5 and the boss 3 tends to vary due to errors during welding, distortion due to welding heat, etc., and the perpendicularity becomes low.

Next, the boss plate 5 and the boss 3 are set in a mold (not shown) of an injection molding machine using the periphery of one mounting recess 9 of the boss plate 5 as a reference plane, and
The injection part 6 is injection molded so that the outer peripheral surface of the injection part 6 is exactly perpendicular to the reference plane of the boss plate 5. At this time, the resin 9a is also injected into the other mounting recess 9 so as to be parallel to the reference plane. After that, the pad side sun gear 17 and the column side sun gear 14 are attached to the injection part 6 with bearings 15 and 1, respectively.
Attach via 8.

The planetary gears 2 are mounted on both ends of the planetary shaft 21.
After attaching 2 and 23 to form the planet member 24,
The planetary shaft 21 is fitted into the holding groove 26, and the inner end surfaces of the planetary gears 22 and 23 are brought into contact with both end surfaces of the bearing member 25. Subsequently, both the members 24 and 25 are fitted into the mounting recess 9 of the boss plate 5 so that the inner surface of the flange 27 comes into contact with the edge of the boss plate 5, and the planetary gears 22 and 2
3 meshes with the sun gears 14 and 17. Therefore,
The planetary shaft held by the bearing member 25 is the boss 3
parallel to the outer peripheral surface of the injection part 6.

Next, attach the hook 35 of the biasing member 31 to the locking pin 3.
6, the wire portion 33 is stretched over the guide groove 30 of the bearing member 25 while the coil spring 34 is extended, and the hook portion 32 is hooked in the hook recess 11.

Now, when the steering wheel of this embodiment is rotated, the planetary gears 22 and 23 shift to the sun gear 1.
4 and 17 mesh in parallel, so it is planetary gear 2.
2 and 23 rotate and revolve while correctly pressing and urging the sun gears 14 and 17, and the pad side sun gear 17
The pad portion 19 fixed to the column side sun gear 1
Like 4, it does not rotate relative to column 1. Furthermore, since the backlash between the gears is absorbed by being compressed, backlash due to backlash can be prevented.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and may be embodied as follows, for example.

(1) At least one planet member 24 is sufficient, and the mounting recess 9 into which this planet member 24 is fitted is sufficient.
The injection part 6 is formed on the outer periphery of the boss 3 using the periphery of the boss 3 as a reference plane. In this case, the boss plate 5 may have only one mounting recess 9, or if two or more mounting recesses 9 are formed, there is no need to inject the resin into the other mounting recesses 9.

(2) The injection part 6 is made of polyacetal, polyester,
Formed from various synthetic resins such as ABS, polypropylene, and methacrylic. In addition, bearing member 2
5 must also be made of synthetic resin such as polyester, ABS, methacrylic, polyamide, etc.

(3) Providing a small protrusion on the outer periphery of the boss 3 or lowering the outer periphery of the boss 3 to improve the grip of the injection part 6 and prevent it from coming off.

(4) The boss 3 and boss plate 5 are not limited to those fixed by welding, but may be integrally formed by forging, or by providing an appropriate number of recesses and holes in the boss 3 and boss plate 5, and molding them by injection or resin. Use of various structures such as integration.

(5) The outer peripheral surface of the resin of the boss 3 and the boss plate 5 with respect to the central axis of the steering wheel shaft.
injection molding so that the resin surface injected into the mounting recess 9 is at right angles.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, this invention makes the central axis from the outer circumferential surface of the boss coincide with the central axis of the steering shaft and smoothes the outer circumferential surface of the boss by injection molding resin on the outer circumferential surface of the boss. Furthermore, by meshing the planetary gear in parallel with the sun gear, it has the excellent effect of preventing rattling of the gear, generation of abnormal noise, and vibration of the pad portion.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a cutaway side view of the main parts of a conventional steering wheel, Figure 2 is an exploded front view of the main parts,
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a boss plate welded and fixed to a boss, FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view, FIG. 6 is an exploded front view of the main part, FIG. 7 is an exploded side view of the boss plate forming the injection part, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the main part showing the assembly of the bearing member. be. Boss...3, boss plate...5, injection part...6, sun gear...14, 17.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a steering wheel with a non-rotating pad part using a planetary gear mechanism, an injection part 6 formed by injection molding of synthetic resin is provided on the outer periphery of the boss 3, and the injection part 6 is equipped with a sliding member such as a bearing. A steering wheel characterized in that the sun gear tooth surfaces and the planet gear tooth surfaces are parallel to each other by attaching the sun gears 14 and 17 via the sun gears 14 and 17.