JPH0341976Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to a steering shaft support structure for an automobile, and in particular, in a tilt type steering shaft whose front lower end is pivotally attached to the vehicle body, the lower front end is attached to the vehicle body. This invention relates to a configuration that improves workability in cases.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-194961, the front lower end of the steering shaft is pivoted to the vehicle body in a manner that allows the steering shaft to tilt in the vertical direction. and in the middle part of the steering shaft,
A tilt type steering shaft equipped with a locking means capable of fixing the steering shaft at an arbitrary tilt position is used in automobiles.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are side views showing the support structure of the conventional tilt type steering shaft as described above, and show the installation procedure for assembling this steering shaft to a vehicle body. In FIG. 3, the steering shaft 1 has a steering wheel 2 at its upper rear end, and a shaft lower bracket 3 fixed at its lower front end. A support bracket 5 having a shape formed therein is pivoted in advance by a shaft 6 at a portion below the position where the bolt insertion hole 4 is provided. A locking device 7 is provided at an intermediate portion of the steering shaft 1 for attaching the steering shaft 1 to a vehicle body in a state in which the steering shaft 1 can be fixed at any tilt position.

The lock device 7 has a mounting bracket 8 attached to the steering shaft 1 and a lock lever 9 for locking and unlocking the steering shaft 1 at an arbitrary tilt position. a pair of side plates 8a facing each other so as to be sandwiched therebetween;
The side plates 8a each have a bent portion 8b bent at a right angle from the upper end thereof to the left and right. Side plate 8
A is formed with an arc-shaped long hole 10 centered on the shaft 6, and a straight long hole 11 (fourth hole) extending in the axial direction of the steering shaft 1 is formed in the bent portion 8b.
(see figure) is formed. The above arc-shaped long hole 1
0, a bolt 12 whose tip is fixed to the steering shaft 1 is loosely inserted, and the bolt 12 is guided into the elongated hole 10 to perform a tilt operation.

On the other hand, on the vehicle body side, a stud bolt 13, which is inserted into the bolt insertion hole 4 of the support bracket 5, protrudes from a bracket 14 (this bracket is usually called a "master cylinder bracket"), and a mounting bracket. A bracket 15 for fixing the bracket 8 to the vehicle body is provided vertically from the vehicle body side.

When attaching the steering shaft 1 having such a configuration to the vehicle body, first, as shown in FIG. After locking the steering shaft 1 in a certain state, that is, in a state where the middle position of the tilt range is maintained, the steering shaft 1 is carried to a position where the bolt insertion hole 4 of the support bracket 5 directly faces the stud bolt 13, and then the third As shown in Figure B, insert only the tip of the bolt 13 into the bolt insertion hole 4 to lock the support bracket 5 to the stud bolt 13, and in that state attach it to the elongated hole 11 of the bent portion 8b of the support bracket 8. Insert the bolt 16 and loosely temporarily fasten the bolt 16 to the bracket 15 of the vehicle body so that the mounting bolt 16 can slide within the elongated hole 11. Next, as shown in FIG. (The relationship between the elongated hole 11 and the mounting bolt 16 is as shown in Figure 4), and insert the stud bolt 1 into the bolt insertion hole 4.
3 to the base, fasten the nut 17 to the stud bolt 13 to fix the support bracket 5 to the bracket 14 on the vehicle body side, and tighten the mounting bolt 16 to fix the mounting bracket 8 to the bracket 15 on the vehicle body side. .

The steering shaft 1, which is attached to the vehicle body through the above procedure, can be tilted in the vertical direction around the axis 6 by operating the lock lever 9, and after the adjustment, it can be moved to an arbitrary tilt position. can be locked to However, in the conventional support structure for the steering shaft 1 as described above, when attaching the front lower end of the steering shaft 1 to the vehicle body, the stud bolt 13 is inserted into the bolt insertion hole of the support bracket 5 as shown in FIG. 4, this causes the support bracket 5 to pivot away from the bolt 13 (clockwise in FIG. 5), thereby making it impossible to insert the stud bolt 13 into the hole 4; Steering shaft 1
There were drawbacks that significantly hindered workability when attaching to the vehicle body.

(Purpose of the invention) Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a steering shaft support structure that improves workability by facilitating the insertion of bolts into the bolt insertion holes of the support bracket when installing a tilt type steering shaft. .

(Structure of the invention) The steering shaft support structure of the invention includes means for preventing the support bracket from being pivoted away from the bolts due to a collision with the bolts when the lower front end of the steering shaft is attached to the vehicle body. The pivoting prevention means is configured to prevent pivoting by restricting relative pivoting between the support bracket and a shaft lower bracket fixed to the steering shaft, and after the steering shaft is installed. is characterized in that the restriction of the relative pivoting is arranged in such a manner that it can occur at the maximum tilt-up position.

(Effects of the invention) According to the invention, since the pivoting of the support bracket is restricted when installing the steering shaft, it becomes easier to insert the stud bolt into the bolt insertion hole, improving work efficiency, and preventing this pivoting. There is an advantage that the regulating means does not impede the tilting operation of the steering shaft after being attached.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the steering shaft support structure according to the present invention in a state corresponding to FIG. 3B. Corresponding parts to those in FIG. But the second
As shown in the figure, a protrusion 20 is integrally provided at the lower end of a shaft lower bracket 3 fixed to the front lower end of the steering shaft 1, and a shaft 6 is attached to the shaft lower bracket 3. The lower part of the support bracket 5, which is pivotally mounted by the support bracket 5, is formed with a front edge 21 on which the protrusion 20 can come into contact. When installing the steering shaft 1 on the vehicle body, as shown in FIG.
0 is in contact with the lower front edge 21 of the support bracket 5, so that even if the stud bolt 13 collides with a portion of the support bracket 5 other than the bolt insertion hole 4 during installation, the support bracket 5 Pivoting of the bracket 5 away from the bolt 13 (clockwise in FIG. 1) is prevented. In addition, when installing the steering shaft 1 to the vehicle body, the steering shaft 1 is attached to the bolt 1 fixed to the steering shaft 1.
The mounting bracket 8 is locked by the lock lever 9 in a state where the mounting bracket 2 is at the uppermost position of the arc-shaped long hole 10 of the mounting bracket 8. Therefore, when the steering shaft 1 is attached to the vehicle body in this state, the steering shaft 1 is locked at the maximum tilt-up position, and in this state, the protrusion 2 of the shaft lower bracket 3
0 and the lower front edge 21 of the support bracket 5 are in contact with each other, so when the lock lever 9 is loosened and the steering shaft 1 is pivoted to a lower tilt position, the protrusion 20 is moved against the lower front edge of the support bracket 5. It is clear that the pivoting movement will occur in the direction away from the edge 21 and that there is no risk of impeding the tilting movement of the steering shaft 1.

As is clear from the above description, although the present invention has an extremely simple structure, it is possible to improve the workability when attaching the lower front end of the tilt type steering shaft 1 to the vehicle body.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a projecting piece 20 is provided on the shaft lower bracket 3 side as a means for restricting the relative pivoting of the support bracket 5 and the shaft lower bracket 3 in a predetermined direction. However, it goes without saying that a structure in which a protruding piece is provided on the support bracket 5 side may also be used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of the steering shaft support structure according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of its main parts, and Figs. 3 A to C show a conventional steering shaft support structure. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the installation procedure when installing to the vehicle body; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the mounting bracket and the mounting bolt in FIG. 3C; FIG.
The figure is a partial side view showing the support bracket pivoted by the stud bolt. 1... Steering shaft, 2... Steering wheel, 3... Shaft lower bracket,
4... Bolt insertion hole, 5... Support bracket, 6
... shaft, 7 ... lock device, 8 ... mounting bracket, 9 ... lock lever, 10, 11 ... long hole,
13... Stud Bolt, 17... Natsuto, 20
... Projection piece, 21 ... Lower front edge.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A support bracket having a bolt insertion hole is pivotally connected to a shaft lower bracket fixed to the front lower end of a tilt type steering shaft at a portion below the bolt insertion hole, and the support bracket has a bolt insertion hole. In a steering shaft support structure for an automobile, the front lower end of the steering shaft is attached to the vehicle body by inserting a bolt protruding from the vehicle body side into a bolt insertion hole and fastening it with a nut, wherein the mounting In this case, when the bolt collides with a portion of the support bracket other than the bolt insertion hole, means is provided for preventing the support bracket from being pivoted away from the bolt. The pivoting prevention means is configured to prevent the pivoting by restricting the relative pivoting between the support bracket and the shaft lower bracket, and after the steering shaft is installed, the pivoting prevention means prevents the relative pivoting. A steering shaft support structure for an automobile, characterized in that the steering shaft support structure is arranged in such a manner that the regulation can occur at the maximum tilt-up position.