JPH05116632A - Steering wheel provided with impulsive energy absorbing body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a steering wheel provided with an impulsive energy absorbing body with which waste of material for deformable legs in the impulsive energy absorbing body made of sheet mental can be prevented to the maximum extent possible. CONSTITUTION:The core metal 1 of a steering wheel W is provided with a boss plate 6 having a boss 5 connected to a steering shaft 50, and spoke part core metal 3 connected to the boss plate 6. The boss plate 6 and the spoke part core metal 3 are formed out of one body. An impulsive energy absorbing body 20 made of sheet metal constituted of an upper wall 21, a bottom wall 22, and deformable legs 23 for connecting together the upper wall 21 and the bottom wall 22, is arranged over the boss plate 6. A rib 7 is upward projectingly formed in the vicinity of connecting part position between the spoke part core metal 3 and the boss plate 6. The bottom wall 22 of the absorbing body 20 is arranged above the rib 7 so that the upper face of the rib 7 is set as a receiving seat for abutting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel mounted on an automobile, and more particularly to a steering wheel provided with a sheet metal impact energy absorber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet metal impact energy absorber (hereinafter simply referred to as an E / A body) disposed on a steering wheel has a top wall, a bottom wall, and a top wall and a bottom wall in the vertical direction. And a deforming leg that is plastically deformed so as to buckle when an impact force is applied from above (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-152660).

The E / A body is arranged above the boss plate having the boss connected to the steering shaft in the core metal of the steering wheel.

The bottom wall of the E / A body is provided with nuts for connecting to the upper end of the steering shaft connected to the boss of the core metal and the nut for connecting to the steering shaft when the steering wheel is mounted on the vehicle. An insertion hole is formed in the center so as not to interfere with the steering shaft and the like.

[0005]

However, in the conventional steering wheel of this kind, even when the bottom wall of the E / A body does not interfere with the steering shaft when the deformed leg buckles due to the impact force. , The upper wall may interfere with the upper end of the steering shaft. When the impact force is applied, E
The position of the bottom wall of the / A body is regulated by the boss plate of the cored bar.

When the upper wall of the E / A body interferes with the upper end of the steering shaft, the buckling deformation of the deforming leg is stopped and the impact force cannot be absorbed.

Therefore, in the conventional E / A body, the buckling distance (actual stroke) of the deforming leg that absorbs impact force and the position of the bottom wall of the E / A body are restricted in the vertical length of the deforming leg. The distance (loss stroke) from the boss plate to the upper end of the steering shaft is added, and the length of the deformed leg for the loss stroke is not effectively used, Was wasted.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel provided with an E / A body which can prevent the waste of the material of the deformed leg of the E / A body as much as possible. And

[0009]

In a steering wheel according to the present invention, a core metal of a steering wheel has a boss plate having a boss connected to a steering shaft, and a spoke core metal bar connected to the boss plate. ,
The boss plate and the spoke core metal are integrally formed, and the upper wall, the bottom wall, and the upper wall and the bottom wall are vertically connected to each other above the boss plate. A steering wheel provided with an E / A body made of a deformed leg, the sheet metal E / A body being arranged, the steering wheel being provided with an upper portion in the vicinity of a connection portion between the spoke core metal and the boss plate. A protruding rib is formed, and the bottom wall of the E / A body is disposed above the rib with the upper surface of the rib as a contact seat.

[0010]

With the steering wheel according to the present invention, when an impact force from above acts on the steering wheel after being mounted on the vehicle, the bottom wall of the E / A body comes into contact with the abutment seat on the upper surface of the rib of the core bar. The deforming leg of the E / A body buckles and deforms to absorb the energy of the impact force. Then, the lower surface of the upper wall of the E / A body comes into contact with the upper end of the steering shaft, and the deformed legs finish absorbing the energy of the impact force.

At this time, in this steering wheel,
The bottom wall of the E / A body is not brought into contact with the boss plate as in the conventional case, but is brought into contact with the abutment seat on the upper surface of the rib protruding upward in the vicinity of the connection portion between the spoke core metal and the boss plate. And the distance E protruding above the rib
The deforming leg of the / A body can be shortened, and the material for the length of the deforming leg can be saved accordingly. That is, in this steering wheel, the loss stroke of the deformed leg of the E / A body is reduced from the vertical distance from the conventional boss plate upper surface to the steering shaft upper end to the vertical distance from the rib upper surface to the steering shaft upper end. be able to.

Therefore, in the steering wheel according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the waste of the material of the deformed leg of the E / A body as much as possible.

Further, in the steering wheel according to the present invention, the abutting portion of the bottom wall of the E / A body is a rib protruding upward in the vicinity of the connecting portion between the spoke core metal bar and the boss plate, which are made of an integral body. The ribs are formed integrally by press working when the spoke core metal etc. is formed from steel plate, or integrally at the time of die casting when the spoke core metal etc. is formed by die casting metal. It can be easily formed.

With this rib, it is possible to improve the bending strength in the vicinity of the connection between the spoke core metal and the boss plate where stress concentration is likely to occur.

Therefore, when an impact force is applied to the ring portion of the steering wheel, the boss plate itself is bent or deformed, or the spoke core metal itself is bent and deformed to move the ring portion in a substantially vertical direction. When installing a self-aligning mechanism on the steering wheel,
The steering wheel can be designed and the self-aligning mechanism can be easily added only by the bending strength of each of the boss plate and the spoke core metal.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The steering wheel W of the embodiment is shown in FIG.
3 to 3, an annular ring portion R and a ring portion R
And a three boss portion S connecting the ring portion R and the boss portion B to each other.

Ring portion R, spoke portion S, and boss portion B
The steering wheel mandrel 1 is disposed on the above, and a part of the ring mandrel 2 and the spoke mandrel 3 is covered with a coating layer 8 made of a soft synthetic resin such as soft urethane. The covering layer 8 of each spoke S has an assembling hole 8a for assembling a pad 11 to which an E / A body 20 described later is attached.

The core metal of the boss portion B is composed of a boss plate 6 to which a steel boss 5 connected to the steering shaft 50 is welded. The ring core metal 2 is formed of a steel pipe and welded to the spoke core metal 3, and the spoke core metal 3 is formed of a steel plate that is integral with the boss plate 6.

A rib 7 is formed near the connection between the spoke core metal 3 extending in the left-right direction and the boss plate 6 so as to bulge upward. This rib 7
Is formed at the same time as the spoke core metal 3 and the boss plate 6 when stamping or bending a steel plate. The upper surface of each rib 7 has an E
/ A contact seat 7a of the bottom wall 22 of the A body 20. In addition, 7
Reference numeral b denotes a mounting hole that penetrates the lower cover 9 made of hard synthetic resin in the up-down direction for fixing the screw 10.

Above the boss B of the steering wheel W, a pad 11 is arranged with an E / A body 20 disposed therebetween. The pad 11 is composed of a coating layer 11a made of a soft synthetic resin such as soft urethane, and an insert 11b made of a hard synthetic resin such as polypropylene and having a through hole 11c in the center.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the E / A body 20 is arranged in a vertical direction by connecting the upper wall 21, the bottom wall 22, and the upper wall 21 and the bottom wall 22. It is composed of a book deforming leg 23. The E / A body 20 includes a sheet metal forming a substantially rectangular upper wall 21 and a bottom wall 2 having a substantially rectangular frame shape.
2 and the deformed leg 23, and a metal plate having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and two metal plates.

The upper wall 21 has three mounting pieces 2 which extend in the left-right direction and rearward of the steering wheel W and have mounting holes 21b for mounting the E / A body 20 on the pad 11.
1a is formed. Further, in the center of the upper wall 21, there is left a mounting piece portion 21c arranged in the left-right direction of the steering wheel W to leave two through holes 21 for weight reduction.
e is formed. The attachment piece portion 21c includes two tongue piece portions 21d that are bent downward for attaching an insulating spacer 15 of the horn switch mechanism 12 described later. The upper wall 21 is the negative electrode side of the horn switch circuit.

The bottom wall 22 is provided at its center with an insertion hole 22a which is opened in a rectangular shape so as not to interfere with the steering shaft 50 and nut 51. Further, a connection piece 22b that is bent and extends rearward is formed on the rear side of the steering wheel W of the bottom wall 22, a through hole 22c is formed at the tip of the connection piece 22b, and a through hole on the upper surface side is formed. A nut 24 is fixed to the peripheral edge of 22c. The connecting piece 22b is fixed to the spoke core metal 3 on the rear side of the steering wheel W by using a screw 25, and the steering wheel W of the pad 11 to which the E / A body 20 is attached.
It is intended to prevent detachment from the.

The deformable legs 23 are composed of four pieces extending upward from the four corners of the bottom wall 22, the upper ends of the deformable legs 23 are bent, and the bent portions are welded to the upper wall 21.

The E / A body 20 is the E / A body 2
When the pad with 0 is attached to the upper part of the boss B of the steering wheel, the center of the side of the bottom wall 22 is
The ribs 7 are arranged above the contact receiving seats 7a.

The horn switch mechanism 12 will be described. The horn switch mechanism 12 includes a pressing plate 13 made of a hard synthetic resin in the shape of a substantially square plate, which is arranged at a portion of the through hole 11c of the insert 11b of the pad 11. A horn spring 14 made of a V-shaped metal leaf spring, an insulating spacer 15 having a clip portion 15a, and an E / A body 20
And an upper wall 21. And clip part 1
The horn spring 14 is locked by 5a and the clip portion 15a is attached to the tongue piece portion 21d of the attachment piece portion 21c of the upper wall 21.
The horn switch mechanism 12 can be formed by engaging with the horn spring 14 and disposing the pressing plate 13 on the horn spring 14. The horn spring 14 has a predetermined lead wire connected thereto and is connected to the positive side of the horn switch circuit.

Then, the horn switch mechanism 12 is formed, and the E / A body 20 is screwed to the insert 11b of the pad 11 by using the mounting holes 21b in each mounting piece 21a of the upper wall 21 of the E / A body 20. If stopped, E / A body 20
Can be attached to the pad 11.

Further, the head 16a of each screw 16
Is inserted into and locked in each of the assembling holes 8a of the covering layer 8 of the steering wheel W in which the lower cover 9 is screwed in advance, and the connecting piece 22b of the E / A body 20 is fixed to the spoke core metal 3
The steering wheel W can be formed by fastening the screw 25 to the.

With such a steering wheel W,
After connecting the steering shaft 50 to the steering shaft 50 using the nut 51 and mounting the same on the vehicle, when the impact force F acts from above, the connecting piece 22b is bent and the E / A body 20 is pushed down together with the pad 11. Bottom wall 2 of E / A body 20
2 abuts on the abutment seat 7a on the upper surface of each rib 7 of the core metal 1,
/ Each deforming leg 23 of the A body 20 buckles and deforms to absorb the energy of the impact force F (see the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1). Then, the lower surface of the upper wall 21 of the E / A body 20 abuts on the upper end of the steering shaft 50, and each deformable leg 23 is
The energy of the impact force F has been absorbed. The actual stroke for absorbing the energy of the impact force F of the deformed leg 23 at this time is the distance PS shown in the figure.

At this time, in this steering wheel W, the bottom wall 22 of the E / A body 20 is not brought into contact with the boss plate as in the conventional case, but a connection portion between the spoke core metal 3 and the boss plate 6 is formed. It is configured to be brought into contact with the contact receiving seat 7a on the upper surface of the rib 7 projecting upward in the vicinity, and the deforming leg 23 of the E / A body 20 can be shortened by the distance projecting upward of the rib 7, and that much. The material of the length of the deformed leg 23 can be saved. That is, in this steering wheel W, the loss stroke LS of the deforming leg 23 of the E / A body 20 is changed from the vertical distance from the conventional boss plate upper surface to the steering shaft to the vertical distance from the rib 7 upper surface to the steering shaft 50 upper end. Can be reduced to directional distance.

Therefore, this steering wheel W
Then, it is possible to prevent the waste of the material of the deforming leg 23 of the E / A body 20 as much as possible.

Further, in this steering wheel W,
The portion where the bottom wall 22 of the E / A body 20 comes into contact is a rib 7 protruding upward in the vicinity of the connection portion between the spoke core bar 3 made of a steel plate of one body and the boss plate 6, and the formation of the rib 7. Together with the spoke core metal 3 and boss plate 6,
It can be integrally formed by press working, and can be easily performed.

The ribs 7 can improve the bending strength in the vicinity of the connection between the spoke core metal 3 and the boss plate 6 where stress concentration is likely to occur.

Therefore, when an impact force is applied to the ring portion R of the steering wheel W, the boss plate 6 itself is bent and deformed, or the spoke portion core metal 3 itself is bent and deformed to substantially eliminate the ring portion R. When the steering wheel W is provided with a self-aligning mechanism that moves in the vertical direction, the steering wheel W can be designed only by the bending strengths of the boss plate 6 and the spoke core metal 3, respectively. Can be easily added.

In the embodiment, the steering wheel W in which the spoke core metal 3 and the boss plate 6 are formed from one steel plate has been described, but the spoke core metal 3 and the boss plate 6 are made of aluminum alloy or the like. The ribs 7 may be integrally formed by die casting that is used, and the ribs 7 may be simultaneously cast during the casting. Even in that case, the same effect as that of the embodiment is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a left-right longitudinal sectional view of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the steering wheel of the embodiment in the front-rear direction.

FIG. 3 is a steering wheel pad and E of the same embodiment.
It is a top view which shows the state which removed the / A body.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the pad of the embodiment with the E / A body attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Steering wheel core metal, 3 ... Spoke part core metal, 5 ... Boss, 6 ... Boss plate, 7 ... Rib, 7a ... Abutment seat surface, 20 ... (Impact energy absorber) E / A body, 21 ... Top Wall, 22 ... Bottom wall, 23 ... Deformed leg, W ... Steering wheel, 50 ... Steering shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A core metal of a steering wheel comprises a boss plate having a boss connected to a steering shaft, and a spoke core metal connected to the boss plate. The boss plate and the spoke core. An impact made of a sheet metal, which is formed of a single piece with gold, and includes an upper wall, a bottom wall, and a deforming leg that is vertically arranged to connect the upper wall and the bottom wall above the boss plate. A steering wheel having an impact energy absorber in which an energy absorber is arranged, wherein a rib projecting upward is formed in the vicinity of a connection portion between the spoke core bar and the boss plate, and the rib above the rib is formed. A steering wheel provided with an impact energy absorber, wherein a bottom wall of the impact energy absorber is disposed on the upper surface of the rib as an abutment seat.