JPH04303063A - Steering wheel device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a steering wheel from hitting on a driver's thigh at the time of steering, in a vehicle fitted with a steering shaft as decentering the steering wheel. CONSTITUTION:A mounting position of a steering shaft 2 for a steering wheel 1 is installed in this steering wheel 1 as being offset to the center, and the steering shaft 2 is attached to the eccentric position of a circular cam 5 rotating with the steering wheel 1 as the center.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel device for a vehicle, which is applied to a steering device for a vehicle such as an automobile.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Vehicles such as automobiles are usually equipped with a steering wheel called a steering wheel for the driver to steer the vehicle. This steering wheel is usually circular, and a steering shaft is attached to the center of the steering wheel.When the driver rotates the steering wheel, the steering shaft is rotated, and the direction of the front wheels is controlled via the steering gear and tie rods. It is structured to change.

[0003] A recent trend in automobile design is that the vehicle height is becoming lower in order to reduce the frontal projected area.
Furthermore, as it has become fashionable to increase the slope of the windshield, the interior volume of the vehicle interior is becoming smaller. This poses a problem in that the steering wheel and the driver's thighs tend to come into contact with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to solve this problem by meeting design requirements.

[0004] For ease of operation, it is best to set the steering wheel at a height (or direction) that suits the physique and posture of the driver, so an angle adjustment mechanism called a tilt mechanism is provided, and the steering wheel is circular The lower part of the seat can be adjusted so that it does not hit the driver's thigh. However, when adjusting the angle of the steering wheel in this way, for example, if the steering wheel is turned upward, the entire steering wheel will face upward.
Depending on the driver, it may be difficult to perform the steering operation. Of course, in this case, by adjusting the position and height of the seat, it is possible to prevent the driving operation from being affected in any way.

[0005] Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-181470 discloses a technology that prevents the steering wheel from hitting the driver's thighs without changing the height of the seat or the like. In this publication, the steering wheel is formed into an elliptical shape, and is mounted so that the long axis of the steering wheel coincides with the left-right direction at a position where the steering wheels of the vehicle are directed in the straight-ahead direction. As a result, when the vehicle is traveling straight, the short circle side of the oval is located above the driver's thighs, so that the desired objective can be achieved without the need for the entire steering wheel angle to be upward.

However, with the method described in this publication, although good results can be obtained when driving straight,
There is a problem in that when the steering wheel is rotated significantly, a portion of the steering wheel ends up hitting the driver's thigh. This is the same even if the steering wheel is not oval, but a regular round one as in the past. This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. 1 is a perfectly circular steering wheel, and 2 is a steering shaft. Steering shaft 2 is steering wheel 1
The steering wheel 1 is offset by a distance d from the center of the steering wheel 1, and is positioned so that the portion of the steering wheel 1 near the steering shaft 2 faces the seat 3 when the vehicle moves straight.

In FIG. 4 showing the steering wheel 1, the solid line represents the steering wheel that is offset, and the dashed line represents the steering wheel that is not offset. The offset amount is d. The non-offset steering wheel 1 is provided with a steering shaft at its center position. In the offset steering wheel 1, the steering wheel 1 is installed so that when the vehicle is moving straight, the side of the steering shaft 1 that is closer to the mounting part is at the bottom, and as shown in FIG. It is away from position 4 of the driver's thigh. Thereby, when the vehicle is traveling straight, the steering wheel 1 does not hit the driver's thigh.

[0008]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the vehicle is steered to change the direction of travel, the attitude of the steering wheel becomes as shown in FIG. The farther side of the steering wheel is placed at the bottom, and the position 4 of the driver's thigh overlaps with a portion of the steering wheel 1, making it difficult to perform driving operations (steering).

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and provides a vehicle steering wheel in which the steering wheel does not overlap the position of the driver's thigh even when the steering wheel is operated for steering. The present invention aims to provide a wheel device.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a steering shaft mounting position of a steering wheel offset from the center of the steering wheel, and the steering shaft is attached to the steering wheel. It has a configuration in which it is mounted at an eccentric position on a circular cam that rotates around the center of the wheel.

[0011]

[Operation] With this structure, when the steering wheel is rotated for steering, when the part of the steering wheel that is far from the center approaches the position of the driver's thigh, the circular cam will be integrated with it. This will rotate the steering shaft away from the driver's thigh. As a result, the steering wheel does not interfere with driving.

0012

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The mounting position of the steering shaft 2, which is the rotation axis of the circular steering wheel 1, is offset by a distance d from the center of the steering wheel 1, and the steering shaft 2 is attached to the steering wheel as shown in FIG. It has a configuration in which it is attached to an eccentric position of a circular cam 5 that rotates around the rotation center O of the wheel 1.

[0013] This will be explained in more detail. What is indicated by the reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1 is a steering shaft housing. This steering shaft housing 6 is cylindrical, and its axial center position is aligned with the center of the circular cam 5. This circular cam 5 is located at the end of the steering shaft housing 6, and is rotatably supported by the steering shaft housing 6 via a bearing 7 mounted on the outer periphery. One end of a shaft 9 is connected to the back surface of the circular cam 5 via a universal joint 8. The other end of the rod 9 is connected to a steering mechanism (not shown) via a universal joint 10.

[0014] This steering wheel device configured in this manner also uses the steering wheel 1 during steering.
By gripping and rotating this, the front wheel steering mechanism is driven via the universal joint 8, shaft 9, and universal joint 10. In this steering process, as shown in FIG. 1, when the part of the circular cam 6 farther from the attachment part to the steering shaft 2 comes to the driver's thigh, the steering shaft 2 of the circular cam 6 comes upward, so the circular cam The steering shaft 2 is separated from the driver's thigh by the movement trajectory of the steering shaft 2 of 6. When the steering wheel 1 is rotated, the circular cam 6 rotates, and the steering wheel 1 rotates around the center of rotation of the circular cam 6. When the steering shaft 2 comes down, the steering wheel 1 rotates around the rotation center of the circular cam 6. The part closest to the attachment part will be at the bottom, and in the end it will not hit the driver's thigh.

In the embodiments described above, a shaft with universal joints attached at both ends was used to connect the circular cam and the steering mechanism (not shown), but instead of this, other means such as a flexible shaft, etc. Needless to say, it is also good.

[0016]

Effects of the Invention Since the present invention is a steering wheel device for a vehicle configured as described above, it is possible to improve driving performance in response to the tendency to mount the steering wheel at a low position, which is required in connection with the reduction in vehicle height. This has the great effect of avoiding positional interference with the patient's thigh.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the circular cam portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a steering wheel in which the steering shaft is mounted offset from the center.

FIG. 4 is a front view for explaining the positional deviation between the steering wheel in FIG. 3 and the normally attached steering wheel.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the orientation of the steering wheel in FIG. 4 when the vehicle is running straight;

6 is a front view showing a state in which the steering wheel is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 5 for steering; FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Steering wheel 2 Steering shaft 4 Position of driver's thigh 5 Circular cam

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering shaft mounting position of a steering wheel is offset from the center of the steering wheel, and the steering shaft is mounted at an eccentric position of a circular cam that rotates about the center of the steering wheel. A vehicle steering wheel device featuring: