JPH0314755Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a steering wheel, and more particularly to the structure of a horn switch provided at the boss portion of the steering wheel.

[Prior art]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a leaf spring type horn switch as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has been manufactured as a horn switch installed in an automobile steering wheel. This leaf spring type horn switch has a boss plate 1 that constitutes the negative electrode side contact and a contact plate 2 made of a leaf spring installed insulated inside, and the horn plate is fitted to cover the upper part of the contact plate 2 so as to be movable up and down. 3 is biased upward by the spring force of the contact plate 2. on the other hand,
A slip ring 5 for power supply is separately fixed to the center bottom of the lower cover part 4 by screwing or caulking, and a lead wire 6 is used to connect between the slip ring 5 and the contact plate 2 or between the contact plates 2. , the horn switch has many components, which increases the number of installation steps.
There was also the problem of high manufacturing costs.

[Purpose of invention]

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention aims to provide a steering wheel that is extremely easy to assemble and does not require wiring inside the horn switch.

[Structure of the idea]

To explain the configuration of the present invention, the boss portion 13 (third
In the steering wheel, a horn switch 20 is installed in the steering wheel (Fig. 4), and the horn switch 20 is actuated by pressing a horn pad 3 (Fig. The leaf spring member 21 of
A plurality of movable pieces 211 that constitute one contact point of the horn switch 20 are formed by cutting and raising a portion at a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction, and these movable pieces 21
1 is opposed to the metal boss plate 1 constituting the other contact of the horn switch 20 or the metal plate 22 electrically connected thereto, and the other part of the plate spring member 21 is connected to the power supply slip ring 5 on the lower surface of the boss.
Extending portion 213 (fifth
), and the lower surface of the horn pad 3 is elastically supported by the upper surface of the tip of each movable piece 211.

〔Example〕

In FIG. 3, a steering wheel 10 is an integrally molded synthetic resin product having a metal core, and includes a ring portion 11 and a boss portion 13 located at the center thereof and connected to the ring portion 11 by spoke portions 12. A horn switch 20 is provided on the boss portion 13. The boss portion 13 is covered with a horn pad 3 from above as shown in FIG. 4, but FIG. 3 shows the state with the horn pad 3 removed.

The horn switch 20 has a plate spring member 21 in the shape of a substantially rectangular ring, and the plate spring member 21 is formed into a movable piece by cutting and raising the outer edge half of each side by about 2/3 in the length direction (see Fig. 6). It is listed as 211. In addition,
For the plate spring member 21, a spring steel plate or a phosphor bronze plate having excellent spring properties and conductivity is used. At the tip of the movable piece 211, a contact member 21 made of copper is made to protrude downward and has a silver contact surface as one contact.
1a is provided. The plate spring member 21 has mounting holes 212 provided on each side, as shown in FIG.
3, the electrode plate 22 and the insulating spacer 1, which will be described later, are inserted into the insulating resin columnar support portion 131 formed in 3.
32, and are fixed to the columnar support part 131 by heat caulking with a distance maintained therebetween. As shown in FIG. 5, a part of the leaf spring member 21 is inserted into a through hole 133 and extends downward from the boss plate 1. It is connected to 5.

An electrode plate 22 having substantially the same shape as the plate spring member 21 is disposed on the boss portion 13 so as to face the plate spring member 21, and the electrode plate 22 is brought into contact with the boss plate 1 for electrical conduction. A contact member 22a made of a phosphor bronze plate, which is the other contact, is provided opposite the contact member 211a (see FIG. 4).

The horn pad 3 has leg portions 31 projecting from its lower surface, and guide holes 1 provided at four locations in the boss portion 13.
The leg portions 32, which are inserted through the horn pads 35 and movable in the vertical direction and also protrude from the lower surface of the pad 3, are brought into contact with the upper surface of the distal end of the movable piece 211, so that the horn pad 3 It is urged upward by a spring force.

The slip ring 5 is connected to an unillustrated horn via a brush 51 shown in FIG.
is grounded via a handle shaft (not shown). Then, when the horn pad 3 is pressed, the contact member 211a provided on the movable piece 211 of the leaf spring member 21 is brought into electrical contact with the contact member 22a provided on the electrode plate 22, and the horn blows.

In the above embodiment, the switch body 21 was attached to the boss part 13 by heat caulking, but the columnar support part 1
31 may be made hollow and a commonly used fixing means such as screw fixing or undercut fixing may be used.

[Effect of idea]

In the steering wheel of the present invention, a plurality of parts of the leaf spring member are cut and raised to form a movable piece that constitutes one contact point of the horn switch, and the movable piece is connected to a metal boss plate or a metal boss plate that constitutes the other contact point of the horn switch. This is opposed to a metal plate that is electrically conductive, and the plate spring member has a structure in which a part of it extends to be electrically conductive to the power supply slip ring on the lower surface of the boss, so that the plate spring member is connected between the contact plates like a conventional steering wheel. Alternatively, there is no need for wiring between the contact plate and the slip ring.

Furthermore, the assembly can be accomplished by simply fixing the leaf spring member as the switch body integrally to the boss portion, and there is no need to separately attach the contact plate as in the conventional case.

In addition, since the spring force of the movable piece is used to bias the horn pad upward, there is no need for a separate part to elastically support the horn pad, and the spring force of the movable piece can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of cutting and raising. It can be easily and arbitrarily adjusted.

As described above, in the steering wheel of the present invention, the horn switch provided thereon can be easily assembled, and there is no need for wiring.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 show a conventional steering wheel, Figure 1 is a front view with the horn pad removed, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 1, and Figures 3 to 5 are the front view of the steering wheel. Fig. 3 is a front view of the steering wheel with the horn pad removed, Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 3. , FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the leaf spring member. 1...Boss plate, 3...Horn pad, 3
2... Leg part, 5... Slip ring, 10... Steering wheel, 13... Boss part, 131...
... Column member (supporting member), 20 ... Horn switch, 21 ... Leaf spring member, 211 ... Movable piece, 2
13... Extension part, 22... Metal plate, 211a, 2
2a...Contact member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) In a steering wheel in which a horn switch is provided in the boss part and the horn switch is activated by pressing a horn pad covering the boss part, a ring fixed to the boss part. The shaped plate spring member is partially cut and raised at multiple points in the circumferential direction to form a plurality of movable pieces that constitute one contact of the horn switch, and these movable pieces constitute the other contact of the horn switch. facing a metal boss plate or a metal plate electrically connected thereto, and forming another part of the plate spring member as an extension part that extends to a power feeding slip ring on the lower surface of the boss and comes into contact with the power supply slip ring, A steering wheel characterized in that the lower surface of the horn pad is elastically supported by the upper surface of the tip of each of the movable pieces. (2) One of the above contacts is a contact member made of copper with a silver contact surface provided on the lower surface of the tip of the movable piece, and the other contact is a contact member made of a phosphor bronze plate provided on the boss plate or metal plate. A steering wheel according to claim 1 of the utility model registration claim. (3) The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the leaf spring member and the metal plate are supported at a predetermined interval by an electrically insulating support member provided upright on the boss portion.