JPH0331634Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a steering wheel attached to a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a non-rotating pad portion type steering wheel equipped with a relay component.

(Prior Art) A steering wheel with non-rotating pads in which a relay component is attached to a planetary gear mechanism is known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-95232.

That is, in this structure, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a pad-side sun gear 53a is provided concentrically with the steering shaft 51 on the upper and lower portions of the outer circumferential side of the boss 52 attached to the upper end of the steering shaft 51. A column side sun gear 53b is provided.

A boss plate 54 extending outward from the outer periphery of the center portion of the boss 52 between the sun gears 53a and 53b has the two sun gears 53a and 53b.
Pad-side and column-side planetary gears 55a and 55b are assembled, which mesh with the respective gears a and 53b and revolve around them while rotating.
The above structure constitutes a planetary gear mechanism.

The pad portion 56 of the steering wheel is provided with various electronic devices 60 such as a control switch, and a relay component for supplying power to the electronic device 60 is incorporated into the planetary gear mechanism.

This relay component is usually the pad side sun gear 53.
A pad-side slip ring 5 provided on the lower surface of a and whose surface is coated with grease G as a lubricant.
7a, a plurality of pad-side contact pins 58a attached to the boss plate 54 via a contact pin holder 59 so as to contact one end of the slip ring 57a, and a column-side sun gear 53.
a column-side slip ring 57b provided on the upper surface of b and similarly coated with grease G on the surface; and a plurality of column-side slip rings 57b provided on the boss plate 54 via the contact pin holder 59 so as to contact one end of the slip ring 57b. Pad side contact pin 5
8b.

Further, the contact pin holder 59 is the twelfth contact pin holder 59.
As shown in the figure, it is composed of two cylindrical pieces 59c and 59d each having a disk-shaped top lid 59a with a through hole 61 in the center and a bottom portion 59b.

The tips of the contact pins 58a, 58b as contact portions 64a, 64b for the respective slip rings 57a, 57b are connected to the upper lid 59a and the lower lid 5.
It is adapted to protrude outward through each hole 61 of 9b.

An end of a spring 62 is inserted into the base end of each of the contact pins 58a and 58b, and the spring 62 is attached to the base end of the two contact pins 58.
a and 58b are biased in a direction away from each other.

In the steering wheel having the above structure, the pad side and column side slip rings 57
a, 57b and the contact pins 58a, 58b on the pad side and column side are always in sliding contact with each other as the steering operation is performed, thereby establishing conduction between the pad side and the column side.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, both the contact pins 58a, 58
As described above, the slip rings 57a and 57b are always in contact with each other, and therefore, after many years of use, the grease G applied on the raceway that is the contact area between them is scraped off and pushed to both edges. As a result, the grease G ran out only on the orbit, exposing the surfaces of the slip rings 57a and 57b.

Therefore, during the steering operation, the slip rings 57a, 57b and the contact pin 58
A and 58b were in direct contact with each other, which caused an abnormal noise that caused discomfort to the driver.

Further, the contact pins 58a, 58b and the slip rings 57a, 57b sometimes wore out quickly.

Structure of the invention (means for solving the problems) Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following features:
The pad-side contact pin is attached to the bottom surface of the non-rotating member on the pad side and comes in contact with the pad-side slip ring, which is attached to the surface of the pad-side non-rotating member and the surface is coated with lubricant. A column-side contact pin that contacts the coated column-side slip ring is attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the boss plate, respectively, and a lubricant coated on the slip ring is applied to at least one side of the slip ring side or the contact pin side. A configuration is adopted in which an accumulating member is provided with an oblique accumulating surface for accumulating the contact pins on the rotational and sliding locus of the contact pin.

(Function) The lubricant applied to the surfaces of the pad side and column side slip rings provided on the pad side and column side is always brought into contact by the collecting member provided on at least one of the slip ring side or the contact pin side. Since the lubricant is accumulated on the rotating and sliding trajectory of the pin, the lubricant does not run out on the slip ring surface on the rotating and sliding trajectory, and smooth contact between the slip ring and the contact pin is maintained. dripping

(First Example) Next, the first example embodying the present invention will be described in the first to
This will be explained according to FIG.

As shown in Fig. 1, the steering wheel 1
A lower bearing 3 is fixed by a lower inner housing 4 to the lower outer periphery of the boss 2 which is fixed to the tip of the boss 2 .

A column-side sun gear 6 as a non-rotating member is arranged and fixed on a column 5 on the outer peripheral side of the lower inner housing 4 concentrically with the steering wheel 1.

The lower bearing 3 is provided on the inner surface of the column side sun gear 6 on the outer peripheral side of the lower inner housing 4.
A lower outer housing 10 is fixed to the lower inner housing 4, and supports the two column-side slip rings 8 via a lower plate support 9 made of synthetic resin. Further, two annular grooves 9a are formed in the lower plate support 9, and the slip ring 8 is installed in the annular grooves 9a. Furthermore, grease G as a lubricant is applied to a constant thickness on the surface of the slip ring 8 in the annular groove 9a.

A recess 12 is formed in the upper part of the boss 2, in which a nut 11 for fixing the boss 2 to the steering shaft 1 is arranged.
The upper bearing 14 is fixed by the upper inner housing 13 and the boss 2, into which the central portion is fitted.

A pad-side sun gear 15 as a non-rotating member is arranged and fixed concentrically with the steering shaft 1 on the outer circumference of the upper bearing 14, and the pad portion 1 is mounted on the pad-side sun gear 15 as a non-rotating member.
6 is installed.

On the outer peripheral side of the upper inner housing 13, the upper bearing 14 is held between the inner surface of the pad side sun gear 15 and the upper inner housing 13, and two pad side slip rings 17 are attached to an upper plate support made of synthetic resin. An upper outer housing 19 is fixedly supported via the upper outer housing 18 (thus, its portions are shown in white in FIG. 1). Further, the upper plate support 1
8 has two annular grooves 18a formed therein, and the slip ring 17 is mounted within the annular grooves 18a. Further, within the annular groove 18a, the surface of the pad-side slip ring 17 is coated with grease G as a lubricant to a constant thickness.

A boss plate 21 extending outward from the central outer peripheral portion of the boss 2 is welded and fixed thereto. A cylindrical contact pin holder 22 is provided in the boss plate 21 at a position where the pair of pad-side slip rings 17 and column-side slip rings 8 face each other.
In this embodiment, two slip rings (only one is shown in FIG. 1) are attached, one for each slip ring 8, 17.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the contact pin holder 22 has a pad-side contact pin 23 in the center.
It consists of a cylindrical body provided with a canopy 24 having an upper insertion hole 24a through which the tip of the column-side contact pin 25 can be inserted, and a lower lid 26 having a lower insertion hole 26a in the middle through which the tip of the column-side contact pin 25 can be inserted. When the lower cover 26 is fixed to the boss plate 21 via the support 27, the contact pin holder 22 is supported by the boss plate 21.

As shown in FIG. 3, both of the contact pins 23 and 25 are formed into a substantially cylindrical shape, and a collar-shaped projection 28 is provided from the center toward one end. Further, the brim-shaped protrusion 28 is housed in the contact pin holder 22 and serves to prevent the pad-side or column-side contact pins 23, 25 from jumping out from the contact pin holder 22.

Said pad side and column side contact pin 2
As shown in FIG. 3, a recess 32 having a curved surface 31 inside is formed at the tip end of each of the recesses 3 and 25, and the recess 32 is electrically conductive.
A metal contact ball 33 having a curvature equal to 1 is mounted so as to be able to roll on the curved surface 31 as a rolling surface.

A conductive spring 34 is interposed between the pad-side contact pin 23 and the column-side contact pin 25, and the spring 34 biases both contact pins 23 and 25 in opposite directions. It's getting old. Therefore, the electrical signal sent from the pad portion 16 side is sent from the pad side slip ring 17 to the pad side contact pin 23, is conducted to the column side contact pin 25 via the spring 34, and is further passed from the column side slip ring 17 to the pad side contact pin 23. 8 and is sent to the main body of an electronic device (not shown) installed in the column section 13.

Further, at a position where the pad-side and column-side slip rings 17 and 8 face each other, a storage member 3 having the same shape as the contact pin holder 22 is provided in a portion adjacent to the contact pin holder 22.
In this embodiment, two slip rings (only one is shown in FIG. 1), one for each slip ring 8 and 17, are attached.

As shown in FIG. 4, the storage member 37 has a cylindrical body with a canopy 39 having an upper insertion hole 39a through which the support portion 38a of the pad-side leveling member 38 can be inserted, and a column-side leveling member 50 in the middle. support part 40 of
A lower lid 4 having a lower insertion hole 41a through which a can be inserted.
1, and the storage member 37 is supported by the boss plate 21 by fixing the lower lid 41 to the boss plate 21 via the support 42.

Further, both the support portions 38a, 40a are formed into a substantially cylindrical shape, and a flange-like projection 43 is provided from the center to one end. The brim-shaped protrusion 43 is accommodated in the storage member 37, and the pad-side or column-side support portions 38a, 40a are accommodated in the storage member 37.
Its role is to prevent it from jumping out. A spring 44 is installed between the supporting parts 38a and 40a, and the supporting parts 38a and 40a
a and 40a are biased in opposite directions.

At the tips of the support parts 38a, 40a, there are pad side and column side accumulation members 38, 4, respectively.
0 is set. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the collecting members 38, 40 are formed in a substantially inverted M shape from the front, with trapezoidal notches 38a, 40b in the center and having a width substantially equal to that of the annular grooves 9a, 18a. As shown in FIG. 6, the notch is inclined obliquely toward the center so that the center has the narrowest opening, forming an accumulation surface 40c.

Therefore, the contact pin holder 22 and the storage member 37 are respectively attached on the orbits of the pair of pad-side and column-side slip rings 8, 17, and each of the contact pins 23 in each of the slip rings 8, 17 is , 25, the grease G left behind on both ends is transferred to this accumulation member 3.
The collecting surfaces 38c and 40c of the contact pins 8 and 40 allow the contact pins 23 and 25 to be collected near the center, that is, on the rotational and sliding locus of the contact pins 23 and 25.

Furthermore, a planetary gear 45 as a non-rotating member that simultaneously meshes with the pad side sun gear 15 and the column side sun gear 6 is attached to the outer periphery of the boss plate 21 via a bearing 46 and a bearing support member 47. At the same time, spokes 48 that support a ring portion (not shown) are attached to a portion different from the attachment portion of the planetary gear 45.

Next, the operation of the steering wheel configured as described above will be described together with its effects.

Now, when a ring part (not shown) is rotated to perform a steering operation, as the boss plate 21 is rotated, the planetary gears 45 on the pad side and column side rotate around the sun gears 15 and 6 on the pad side and column side, respectively. It revolves around its axis. Here, since the column-side sun gear 6 cannot rotate with respect to the column 5, the pad-side sun gear 15 follows the column-side sun gear 6 and is always stationary with respect to the column 5. Therefore, the butt portion 16 is always maintained in a stationary state in response to the steering operation.

Further, a voltage signal generated by operating a switch or the like provided on the pad portion 16 is transmitted to the pad side slip ring 17 and the contact ball 3.
3. Pad side contact pin 23, spring 3
4. The contact pin 25 on the column side, the contact ball 33, and the slip ring 8 on the column side are sent to the main body of the electronic device.

At this time, the pad-side and column-side contact pins 23, 25 rotate together with the boss plate 21, constantly contacting the pad-side and column-side slip rings 17, 8, and draw a constant rotation locus. Therefore, on the surfaces of the slip rings 8 and 17 that are on this rotational and sliding trajectory,
Due to long-term use, the grease G in that part is scraped away and left behind on both edges, resulting in grease G breakage.

However, the column-side and pad-side integrated members 3 are located near the contact pins 23 and 25.
8, 40 are provided, the grease G left behind on both edges of the slip rings 8, 17 is collected again at the center, that is, on the rotational sliding trajectory, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the grease G
The slip rings 8, 17 and the contact pins 23, 25 do not come off on the rotational sliding track of the contact pins 23, 25, and smooth contact can be maintained between the slip rings 8, 17 and the contact pins 23, 25. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of abnormal noise.

The contact pins 23, 25 and the slip rings 8, 17 are always coated with the grease G.
Since they are in contact with each other through the , not only can wear between the two be significantly reduced, but also the durability of the relay mechanism itself can be improved.

Further, since both the contact pins 23 and 25 are urged by the spring 33 in the direction of the slip rings 8 and 17 that contact each other, the ability of the contact pins 23 and 25 to follow the surfaces of the slip rings 8 and 17 is improved. I can do it. Therefore, even though there is contact resistance between the slip rings 8, 17 and the contact pins 23, 25, a natural steering operation without any discomfort is possible.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. The only difference from the previous embodiment is that the collecting members 38 and 40 are provided on the column side and the pad side slip rings 8 and 17.

That is, sliding grooves 9b and 18b having an undercut shape in cross section are provided on the side walls of the annular grooves 9a and 18a, and pad side and column side collecting members 38, which are attached to the support parts 38a and 40a, are provided.
40 is used alone, and an undercut portion 49 made of synthetic resin is provided on the side wall of the annular groove 9a, 18.
It is rotatably mounted inside a.

Therefore, this embodiment also has the same effects as the previous embodiment.

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

(1) The leveling members 38 and 40 are not limited to the shape of each of the embodiments described above, and for example, a leveling member 71 having a shape as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and having an accumulation surface 71c, An accumulation member 72 or the like having a brush-like accumulation surface 72c with shorter bristles toward the center as shown in FIG. 10 may be used. This brush-shaped collecting member 72 having a collecting surface 72c not only collects the grease G on both edges of the slip rings 8, 17, but also holds the grease G at one end with the tip of the bristles to collect the grease G on the slip rings 8, 17. It also serves as a coating on top.

(2) The integrated members 38, 40 are directly attached to the contact pins 23, 25 via connecting members. In this way, the present invention can be easily applied to commonly used contact pins.

(3) The stacking members 38 and 40 are the same as those in each of the above embodiments.
The number of slip rings 8, 17 is not limited to one, but may vary depending on the viscosity of the lubricant.
You may provide more than one.

(4) In this example, a planetary gear mechanism is shown as the non-rotating mechanism, but the column side and the pad side are connected using two or more locking members (Japanese Patent Application No. 19471/1983) or one that connects the column and pad part using a spiral member (patent application 1983-
152781) etc. can also be used.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, the present invention is provided with an accumulation member for accumulating lubricant applied to the slip ring surface on at least one of the slip ring side and the contact pin side. A certain amount of lubricant can always be kept on the rotating orbit that comes in contact with the rotary track. Therefore, it is possible to prevent abnormal noises caused by running out of lubricant,
This has the excellent effect of improving the wear resistance of the contact pin itself.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment embodying the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the contact pin holder of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view of Fig. 2. , FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the storage member and the accumulation member, FIG. 5 is a front sectional view showing the accumulation member in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A-A showing the brushing member. FIG. 7 is a front sectional view showing the second embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 8 to 10 are views of other examples, and FIG.
1 and 12 are a cutaway side view and a perspective view showing a conventional example. Column side slip spring...8, Pad side slip spring...17, Column side sun gear...6,
Padded side sun gear...15, Padded side contact pin...23, Column side contact pin...2
5. Boss plate...21, Lubricant...G, Accumulating member...38,40.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] In a steering wheel equipped with a non-rotating mechanism for non-rotating the pad part, the steering wheel is attached to the lower surface of the pad-side non-rotating member 15 and a lubricant G is applied to the surface. a pad side contact pin 23 that contacts the pad side slip ring 17;
Column-side contact pins 25 that are attached to the upper surface of the column-side non-rotatable member 6 and contact the column-side slip springs 8 whose surfaces are also coated with lubricant G are attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the boss plate 21, respectively. , the lubricant G applied to the surface side of the slip rings 8, 17 is applied to at least one side of the slip rings 8, 17 or the contact pins 23, 25.
Accumulating members 38, 40 have oblique accumulating surfaces 38C, 40C for accumulating on the rotational sliding locus of No. 5.
A steering wheel characterized by being provided with.