JPH05286444A - Vehicular steering device and attaching method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a vehicular steering device and an attaching method therof to allow longitudinal directional turning motion of a steering shaft when a vehicle comes into collision while securing attaching performance of the steering shaft. CONSTITUTION:A steering shaft attaching method and a vehicular steering device attached this attaching method are constituted in such a way that a steering gear box 30 is installed on a vehicle body in a condition of applying a prescribed steering angle to a tie rod, and one end of an intermediate shaft 26 whose other end is connected to a pinion gear is arranged in a vehicle room, and a fixing part of a yoke arranged on the one end and the lower end of a steering shaft are fastened/fixed to each other from almost below by means of a bolt, these are characterized in that a prescribed steering angle is set so that a rod arranged in this york can be put in a horizontal condition when a vehicle is in a rectilinearly advancing condition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle steering system and a method of assembling the steering system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a vehicle steering system includes a steering gear box fixed to a vehicle body, tie rods extending from both ends of the steering gear box in the vehicle width direction, and a steering wheel with respect to the steering gear box. It is composed of a shaft for inputting the steering force.

This shaft is composed of a steering shaft extending forward from the steering wheel, a pinion shaft provided in the steering gear box, and an intermediate shaft connecting both shafts. Are connected by a universal joint consisting of a pair of yokes and a cross rod.

On the other hand, the assembling work of the steering device is
With one end of the intermediate shaft attached to the pinion shaft provided in the steering gear box, attach the steering gear box from below the vehicle body to the vicinity of the engine room, and let the other end of the intermediate shaft pass through the dash panel. Located in. Next, the steering shaft is rotatably supported by the steering support member, the lower end of the steering shaft is inserted into the yoke of the universal joint provided at the other end of the intermediate shaft, and the yoke is bolted. Secure by fastening. In this work, the worker tightens the bolts from below with an impact wrench in a place where the space under the feet is small in the passenger compartment.

[0005]

Recently, in order to improve the safety of the driver, a steering mechanism is provided with a collapse mechanism, an airbag device and the like. However, by controlling the behavior of the steering shaft, It is considered that the safety will be further improved.

Next, the collision step will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference symbol a indicates the initial stage of collision, b indicates the middle stage, and c indicates the latter stage. 1. In a, the steering gear box 30 moves backward toward the vehicle compartment, and at this time the position of the steering shaft 23 is kept unchanged so that the airbag deployment direction is kept constant. 2. In b, the airbag is surely deployed to protect the driver. 3. In c, the steering shaft 23 is contracted by the collapse mechanism and the steering shaft 23 is rotated upward, so that the impact applied to the driver is mitigated.

At this time, in order to rotate the steering shaft upward, it is necessary to consider the orientation of the universal joint provided between the shafts. The direction of the universal joint, that is, the direction of rotation is shown in FIG.

Among the cross rods 34 of the universal joint 25, the steering shaft 23 rotates about a rod 34a provided on the side of the yoke fixed to the steering shaft 23, so that the rod 34a is in a horizontal state. A larger amount of rotation can be obtained.

However, as described above, since the bolts are fastened from below in the assembling of this portion, the rod is in the vertical state as shown in FIG. 3a.

Therefore, the amount of rotation is smaller than when the rod 34a is in the horizontal state. Further, in order to make the rod 34a horizontal during the assembling work, bolts may be fastened from the horizontal direction, but the work space is narrow, and the work becomes complicated.

The rod provided on the yoke and the mounting bolt are parallel to each other in terms of configuration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle steering apparatus which allows the turning of a steering shaft while ensuring the assemblability and an assembling method thereof.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for assembling a vehicle steering system according to the present invention is
A steering gear box having tie rods connected to the wheel support members at both ends, a pinion gear provided in the steering box, a vehicle interior, a steering wheel attachment portion provided at the upper end, and an intermediate shaft provided at the lower end. A steering shaft provided with an intermediate shaft attachment portion connected to the pinion gear via a universal joint having a pair of yokes and a cross rod interposed between the intermediate shaft and the steering shaft; In the method of assembling a steering device for a vehicle, a fixing portion for inserting the steering shaft and fastening and fixing the same is provided at one end of a yoke provided on the steering shaft side of the universal joint. Steer with the specified rudder angle attached to The gearbox is attached to the vehicle body, the other end of the intermediate shaft, one end of which is connected to the pinion gear, is arranged in the vehicle compartment, and the fixed portion of the yoke provided at the other end and the lower end of the steering shaft are connected to each other. Among the cross rods which are fastened and fixed by bolts from substantially below, and which are located at the other end of the yoke having the fixing portion, the rod provided on this yoke makes the vehicle go straight. It is characterized in that the predetermined steering angle is set so as to be in a horizontal state at a certain time. In order to achieve the same purpose as described above, a vehicle steering system of the present invention includes a steering gear box having tie rods connected to wheel supporting members at both ends, a pinion gear provided in the steering gear box, and a vehicle interior. And a steering wheel mounting portion is provided at the upper end and an intermediate shaft mounting portion is provided at the lower end, the intermediate shaft mounting portion being connected to the pinion gear via an intermediate shaft, and between the intermediate shaft and the steering shaft. A universal joint having a pair of yokes and a cross rod interposed therebetween, and a steering shaft is inserted into one end of the yoke provided on the steering shaft side of the universal joint, and is fixed by bolts. To the steering device of the vehicle provided with the fixed part Stomach,
Among the cross rods located at the other end of the yoke provided with the fixing portion, the rod provided on this yoke is set to be horizontal when the vehicle is in a straight traveling state. Characterize.

[0015]

With the above construction, the steering shaft can be rotated during a collision while ensuring the assembling property of the steering shaft. Therefore, safety at the time of collision is further improved.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The drawings show a steering device for an automobile,
In FIG. 1, a bonnet 2 covering the upper part of the engine room 1 is provided, while a dash upper panel 4 is joined to the upper end of the dash lower panel 3 located at the rear end of the engine room 1.

The upper end of the dash upper panel 4 and the rear ends of the cowl upper panels 5 and 6 are joined together, and the lower end of the front end of the cowl upper panel 5 corresponds to the upper end extension of the dash lower panel 3. The cowl front panel 7 between the upper part of the front end and the dash upper panel 4
Are joined together to form a cowl box 9 having a cowl closed cross section 8 extending in the vehicle width direction.

Further, the cowl upper panels 5 and 6 described above are provided.
By bending and joining, two closed cross sections 10 and 11 extending in the vehicle width direction are formed on the upper part of the cowl closed cross section 8 and a glass holding member 12 having each of these closed cross sections 10 and 11 is formed. The front windshield 13 is supported. A master cylinder bracket 14 as a dash panel side member is fixed to the vehicle compartment side surface of the above dash lower panel 3, and a brake pedal (not shown) is swingably attached to this master cylinder bracket 14 through a shaft. In the vicinity of the master cylinder bracket 14 on the engine room 1 side, a master cylinder 17 for braking having a reservoir tank 16 is provided via a booster 15 that doubles the operation force of the brake pedal. One end of 17 extends into the master cylinder bracket 14 and is connected to the brake pedal.

By the way, a predetermined portion of the crash pad portion 18 has a steering support member 19 extending in the vehicle width direction.
Both ends of the steering support member 19 are supported by the cowl side panel.

A steering support bracket 21 extending obliquely downward is stretched between the dash upper panel 4 and the steering column 20, and the upper portion of the steering column 20 is mounted on the steering support member 19 using a bracket 22. The steering support bracket 21 is supported on the lower end of the slope.

A steering shaft 23 is rotatably inserted in the steering column 20. A steering wheel 24 is attached to the upper end of the steering shaft 23, while a first universal joint 25 is attached to the lower end of the steering shaft 23. The intermediate shaft 26 is connected via a pinion shaft 28 via a second universal joint 27 to the lower end of the intermediate shaft 26. The above pinion shaft 28
The pinion integrally formed at the lower end of the gear is meshed with the rack of the tie rod 29 of the front wheel, and the rack and pinion mechanism is wrapped in the steering gear box 30.

By the way, a first universal joint 25 and a second universal joint 27 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the intermediate shaft 26 which connects the steering shaft 23 as the steering wheel side shaft and the pinion shaft 28 as the pinion side shaft. However, as shown in FIG. 2, a yoke 31 (fixed portion) 33 having a split groove 32 is integrally formed with a yoke 31 that constitutes one of the first universal joints 25. Serrations are formed on the inner surface of the cylinder shaft portion of the yoke bracket (fixed portion) 33 (not shown). A cross-shaped cross rod 34 is provided between the pair of yokes to allow relative bending of the pair of yokes.

The assembling method will be described below with reference to FIG.

To assemble the steering device, first, the second universal joint 27 at the lower end of the intermediate shaft 26 is assembled.
Is rotated about 90 degrees in advance to fasten the pinion shaft 28, and then the steering gear box 30 and the tie rod 29 are assembled by, for example, a robot to rotate the pinion shaft 28 about 90 degrees from the neutral position, that is, the tie rod is predetermined. Fix it to the vehicle body with the steering angle (shown by the dotted line). At the same time, the upper end of the intermediate shaft 26 is penetrated through the dash lower panel 3 from the engine room 1 side and positioned in the vehicle compartment.

Next, the steering shaft 23 from which the steering wheel 24 is removed is assembled to the steering column 20, and is assembled to the vehicle body by the robot.

Next, the lower end 2 of the steering shaft 23
3a is inserted into a yoke bracket (fixed portion) 33 having a substantially cylindrical shaft shape of the first universal joint 25, and then the split groove 32 is fastened by a pinch bolt 35 in a foot space in the vehicle interior. At this time, the impact wrench is fastened, but unless there is a certain amount of space, the impact wrench cannot be brought to the fastening position. Therefore, bring the impact wrench to the lower side of the steering shaft 23 and pinch the bolt from the lower side. Fasten 35. The pinch bolt 35 and the yoke-side rod 34a are parallel to each other because the yoke bracket (fixed portion) 33 extends.

Next, for example, a robot grasps the tie rod and returns the steering device to the neutral position (from the dotted line state to the solid line state).

By carrying out such an assembling method,
After the assembly, the rod 34a extending from the yoke on the steering shaft side of the cross rod 34 of the first universal joint 25 becomes horizontal with the steering wheel 24 positioned in the neutral position, and the cross rod 36 of the second universal joint 27 also. Of these, the rod 36a extending from the yoke on the pinion shaft side is in a horizontal state. As a result, the steering shaft 23 and the pinion shaft 28 respectively rotate about the rods 34a and 36a, so that a larger amount of rotation can be secured (as shown in FIG. 4).

By making the tip of the pinion shaft 28 concave like a mortar, the yoke 27a on the intermediate shaft side is formed.
It is possible to make smoother rotation by eliminating the interference with.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a completed view of a mounting method according to the present invention (showing a straight traveling state of a vehicle).

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a steering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part relating to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the behavior of the steering device during a collision.

[Explanation of symbols]

Steering gear box ... 30, Pinion gear ... 2
8, intermediate shaft ... 26, steering shaft ... 2
3, yoke ... 31, cross rod ... 34, universal joint ... 25.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshio Oda 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima Mazda Motor Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A steering gear box having tie rods connected to a wheel support member at both ends, a pinion gear provided in the steering box, a vehicle interior, and a steering wheel attachment portion provided at an upper end. A steering shaft provided with an intermediate shaft mounting portion connected to the pinion gear at its lower end via an intermediate shaft; and a pair of yoke and cross rod interposed between the intermediate shaft and the steering shaft. Assembling of a steering device for a vehicle in which a universal joint and a fixing portion for inserting the steering shaft and fastening and fixing with a bolt are provided at one end of a yoke provided on the steering shaft side of the universal joint. In the method, the tie rod with a predetermined rudder angle In this state, the steering gear box is attached to the vehicle body, and the other end of the intermediate shaft, one end of which is connected to the pinion gear, is arranged in the vehicle interior, and the fixed portion of the yoke provided at the other end and the lower end of the steering shaft are arranged. Of the cross rod positioned at the other end of the yoke provided with the fixing portion, the rod provided on the yoke is straight ahead of the vehicle. A method for assembling a steering device for a vehicle, wherein the predetermined steering angle is set so that the steering device is in a horizontal state when in a state. 2. A steering gear box having tie rods connected to a wheel supporting member at both ends, a pinion gear provided in the steering gear box, a vehicle interior, and a steering wheel attachment portion provided at an upper end. A steering shaft having an intermediate shaft attachment portion at its lower end, which is connected to the pinion gear via an intermediate shaft; and a pair of yokes and cross rods interposed between the intermediate shaft and the steering shaft. In a steering apparatus for a vehicle, a universal joint and a fixing portion for inserting the steering shaft and fastening and fixing it with a bolt are provided at one end of a yoke provided on the steering shaft side of the universal joint. , Located at the other end of the yoke having the above-mentioned fixing portion Among the cross rods, a steering device for a vehicle, wherein a rod provided on this yoke is set so as to be horizontal when the vehicle is in a straight traveling state.