JPH043908Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to improvement of a steering wheel core material.

(Prior Art) Recently, as described in British Patent Publication GB2004835A, etc., a continuous bundle of carbon fibers, glass fibers, aromatic polyamide fibers, etc. is impregnated with epoxy resin or phenolic resin, and this is used to form a frame. A method has been developed for manufacturing a structure with excellent strength by winding it around a mold. If a steering wheel core material is manufactured by such a manufacturing method, it is thought that a steering wheel that is lightweight and has excellent strength can be provided.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, as described above, if the steering wheel core material is formed of a continuous fiber bundle impregnated with resin, the vehicle will cause a collision, and the driver and the steering wheel will be separated. When the steering wheel core material collides with the vehicle, the impact force is absorbed by the deformation and destruction of the steering wheel core material, but the driver then receives a repulsive force due to the buckling of the steering wheel core material.

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent the driver from receiving backlash from a steering wheel that uses a steering wheel core made of continuous fiber reinforced resin (hereinafter referred to as continuous fiber FRP) in the event of a collision, etc. The aim is to minimize the force.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the ring portion 2 is made of a continuous fiber bundle impregnated with resin.
and spoke parts 3 and 5 extending from the ring part 2 toward the boss 6 located at the axis of the ring part 2, and inside the ring part 2, the ring part 2 and the spoke parts are formed. At the intersection with 3 and 5,
A wire 7 extending along the ring portion 2 is embedded.

(Function) With the above-described configuration, when a predetermined load is applied to the steering wheel core material 1, the wire 7 at the intersection of the ring portion 2 and the spoke portions 3 and 5 undergoes plastic deformation, and as a result, the wire 7 undergoes plastic deformation. The backling of the steering wheel core material 1 is suppressed and the steering wheel core material 1 is plastically deformed.

Further, a wire 7 is provided at the intersection between the ring portion 2 and the spoke portions 3 and 5, and the wire 7 is placed at the location where the load is most concentrated.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a steering wheel core material 1 made of continuous fiber FRP, and the steering wheel core material 1 consists of a ring portion 2 and spoke portions 3, 4, and 5. The ring portion 2 is formed by repeatedly winding a resin-impregnated continuous fiber bundle in a ring-shaped mold. spoke part 3,
4 and 5 hold a holder (not shown) on the ring part 2 when forming the ring part 2, and repeat a continuous fiber bundle impregnated with resin between the holder and the boss 6. It is formed by de-ing. Epoxy resin, phenol resin, etc. are used as the impregnating resin, and glass continuous fiber bundles, carbon continuous fiber bundles, etc. are used as the continuous fiber bundles.

When this steering wheel core member 1 is attached to a vehicle, it is arranged as shown in FIG. 1 in a straight-ahead state. That is, spoke parts 3, 5
extend in the horizontal direction in the figure, and the spoke portions 4 extend in the vertical direction in the figure. This spoke part 3,
5 and the ring part 2, wires 7, 7 made of iron or the like are inserted inside the ring part 2, and these wires 7, 7 pass through each intersection to the ring part 2. It extends along the Each of the wires 7, 7 is configured to plastically deform when a predetermined load is applied thereto, and this predetermined load is determined based on the impact force at the time of a collision.

The steering wheel is formed by coating the steering wheel core material 1 with urethane or polypropylene, and the steering wheel is attached to a vehicle.

Therefore, when the above-mentioned steering wheel is used in a vehicle, if a collision occurs and the driver collides with, for example, the lower part of the steering wheel in Figure 1, the impact force will cause the steering wheel to The lower portion of is bent around each intersection of the spoke portions 3, 5 and the ring portion 2. As a result of this bending, the wires 7, 7 are plastically deformed, and the steering wheel is plastically deformed with backing being suppressed to an extremely low level. Therefore, most of the impact force when the driver and the steering wheel collide is spent on plastic deformation of the steering wheel, and the repulsive force that the driver receives becomes extremely small. FIG. 2 shows characteristic curves specifically showing the above contents, where characteristic curve A is for a case where the steering wheel core material 1 according to the present invention is used, and characteristic curve B is for a steering wheel made of continuous fiber FRP according to the conventional technology. This is the case when a core material is used.
In order to obtain both characteristic curves A and B, both steering wheels are fixedly supported around the bosses of the core members, and a load directed in the axial direction of the ring portions is applied to a part of the ring portions of both steering wheels. , and measure the change in deflection at that time.

As a result, the steering wheel core material 1 according to the present invention deforms elastically as the load increases, and when the load exceeds a certain level, only the amount of deflection increases, causing plastic deformation. After this, when the load is removed, permanent deformation is maintained due to the action of the wire 7 according to the present invention. It can be seen that the steering wheel core material according to the conventional technology has less permanent deformation strain than the steering wheel core material 1 according to the present invention, and returns to almost its original shape when the load is removed. At this time, the area surrounded by each of the characteristic curves A and B is the amount of energy spent on deforming each steering wheel core material, and the area of the characteristic curve A is considerably larger than the area of the characteristic curve B. Therefore, as described above, in the event of a collision, the amount of shock absorption by the steering wheel using the steering wheel core material 1 according to the present invention becomes extremely large.

FIG. 3 shows the bending characteristics of the steering wheel core material. Similar to FIG. This is a case where the steering wheel core material according to the above is used. In order to obtain both characteristic lines A and B, the boss of each steering wheel core member is fixedly supported, a load is applied in the tangential direction from a predetermined position on the ring portion, and the change in deflection at that time is measured.

As a result, the steering wheel core material according to the present invention has a smaller amount of deflection under a certain load than the steering wheel core material according to the conventional technology, and the bending strength is lower than that of the steering wheel core material according to the present invention. It can be seen that the steering wheel core material 1 is superior to the steering wheel core material 1 according to the conventional technology. This seems to be based on the fact that the wire 7 is provided at the intersection between the ring portion 2 and the spoke portions 3 and 5, where the load is most concentrated.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show other embodiments, and the same components as those in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted.

In each of these embodiments, not only the ring portion 2 but also the wire 7 is built in from the ring portion 2 toward the spoke portions 3 and 5. This further improves the bending strength of the steering wheel core material 1.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, the present invention allows the steering wheel core material to undergo plastic deformation under a predetermined load. Even if an accident occurs and the steering wheel collides with the driver, most of the impact force at that time is absorbed by the plastic deformation of the steering wheel, making it possible to minimize the repulsive force that the driver receives. Moreover, since the wire is embedded, there is no risk that the wire will peel off from the base material during plastic deformation, and high reliability can be ensured.

Furthermore, since the wire is placed at the location where the load is most concentrated, the bending strength of the continuous fiber reinforced resin steering wheel core material can be further improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the steering wheel core material according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing the buckling characteristics of the steering wheel core material, and FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing the bending characteristics of the steering wheel core material. 4 and 5 are enlarged views of main parts showing other embodiments. 2...Ring part, 3, 5...Spoke part, 6...
...Boss, 7...Wire.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A continuous fiber bundle impregnated with resin, with a ring part and
spoke portions extending from the ring portion toward a boss located at the axis of the ring portion; A steering wheel core material characterized by having a wire embedded along it.