JPH0585370A - Steering gear for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automobile steering gear capable of reducing impact force received by a driver at the time of colliding against a steering wheel even if pushed by an engine at the time of a collision, without increasing the capacity of collapse mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A steering gear unit 14 is disposed diagonally frontward on the inside of a steering shaft 11. The front end part of the steering shaft 11 and the steering gear unit 14 are connected to each other by an intermediate shaft 21, and the intermediate shaft 21 is supported on a body 22, desirably at the approximate center thereof in the axial direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile steering system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some steering devices for automobiles are provided with a collapse mechanism as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-147377. As a result, even if an occupant collides with the steering device through the steering wheel due to a collision of the vehicle body, the collapse mechanism contracts and the impact energy at that time is absorbed.

[0003]

However, in the case of a head-on collision, the engine retracts and a collision load acts on the steering device. Therefore, in order to effectively absorb the impact force by the collapse mechanism, the capability of the collapse mechanism (steering collapse amount) must be increased. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering device for an automobile that can improve passenger protection performance without increasing the capacity of the collapse mechanism.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a steering gear unit is disposed inward of the steering shaft in the vehicle width direction and in front of the vehicle body, and the front end portion of the steering shaft and the steering gear unit are arranged. Are connected via an intermediate shaft, and the intermediate shaft is supported axially inward of the intermediate shaft with respect to the vehicle body. With the above configuration, when the engine retracts due to a collision, first, the engine hits the steering gear unit,
The intermediate shaft is rotated around the support point between the intermediate shaft and the vehicle body, and the acting force due to the engine retreating is reversed in the action direction toward the vehicle front side, and at least the steering shaft is directed toward the vehicle rear side. It will be possible to eliminate the force of pushing positively. Therefore, the improvement of the passenger protection performance can be realized without increasing the capacity of the collapse mechanism.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, a vehicle 1 is provided with a cowl box 2, and a dash panel (dash lower) 3 is provided below the cowl box 2, and the cowl box 2 and the dash panel 3 are The vehicle 1 is divided into an engine room 4 and a vehicle compartment 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, a steering column 6 is disposed in the vehicle compartment 5 so as to be inclined upward toward the rear of the vehicle body on the right seat side. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper end of the steering column 6 is supported by a supporting member on the instrument panel 8 side via a bracket 7, and the bracket 7
Is mounted so as to enclose the steering column from the lower side, as shown in FIGS. On the other hand, the lower end of the steering column 6 is held by a supporting member 9 below the cowl box 2 via a holding member 10,
The lower end of the steering column 6 is held by the holding member 10 while penetrating the holding member 10.

In the steering column 6, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the steering shaft 11 is inserted in a penetrating state. This steering shaft 1
The steering wheel 12 is attached to the upper end of the steering wheel 1, and the steering column 6 is pulled out from the lower end of the steering wheel 12 to the vicinity of the dash panel 3.

On the other hand, an engine 13 is disposed in the engine room 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and a steering gear unit is provided between the engine 13 and the dash panel 3. 14 are provided. The steering gear unit 14 includes a pinion 15 and a rack 16. In the present embodiment, the pinion 15 is located below the steering shaft 11 on the vehicle width direction center line 0, and the rack 16 is provided.
Is meshed with the pinion 15. This allows
As is known, the rotation of the pinion 15 is transmitted to the wheel 17 as a displacement in the vehicle width direction via the rack 16.

A steering wheel 18 is formed on the dash panel 3 as shown in FIGS. The steering wheel 18 has a relatively large hole as usual, and the steering wheel 18 has a relatively large hole.
A bracket 19 is attached to the peripheral portion, and a relatively small insertion hole 20 is formed in the bracket 19. An intermediate shaft 21 is inserted through the insertion hole 20, and one end of the intermediate shaft 21 is provided with a univer.
The steering shaft 1 via a monkey joint or the like.
The front end portion of 1 is connected, and the pinion 15 is connected to the other end portion of the intermediate shaft 21 via a universal joint or the like. The intermediate shaft 21 is supported by a peripheral edge portion of the insertion hole 20 of the bracket 19 via a seal member 22 at a substantially center in the axial direction, and the support between the seal member 22 and the intermediate shaft 21 is While permitting rotation around the axis of the intermediate shaft 21, displacement movement of the intermediate member 21 in the axial direction is restricted. The angle from the vehicle width direction center line O to the intermediate shaft 21 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 is substantially equal to the angle from the intermediate shaft 21 to the steering shaft 11 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. There is.

Therefore, in the above device, the steering wheel 12 is operated by the steering shaft 1.
1, the intermediate shaft 21, the pinion 15, and the rack 16 are transmitted to the wheels 17 appropriately.

On the other hand, the vehicle 1 collides and the engine 13
Even if the reverse force of the engine 13 acts on the steering gear unit 14, the force is
It acts as a force that causes the other end of the intermediate shaft 21 to swing rearward of the vehicle body around the support point of the intermediate shaft 21 and the bracket 19, and in this case, the steering column 6, the bracket 7, and the holding member 10. Since the steering column 6 can be displaced relatively easily in the axial direction due to the support relationship of 1, the one end side of the intermediate shaft 21 is swung forward of the vehicle body. Along with this, the steering shaft 11 and the steering column 6
Are pulled downward while extending in the axial direction thereof, and the steering wheel 12 shifts from the virtual line state to the solid line state in FIG. 8 and becomes far from the occupant.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the retreating force of the engine 13 acts on the steering gear unit 14, the force does not work as a force for positively pushing the steering shaft 11, of course. By advancing and utilizing the force to escape the steering wheel 12 from the occupant, it is possible to avoid the occupant from hitting the steering wheel 12 itself during a collision.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, the steering shaft 11 is divided into two at the lower end,
The components 23 and 24 are formed, and the components 23 and 24 are spline-coupled. Therefore, during normal times (when there is no collision), the rotational operation of the steering wheel 12 can be accurately transmitted to the wheels 17 as before, but when a collision occurs, one end side of the intermediate shaft 21 described above can be transmitted. With the swinging of the steering wheel, the constituent portion 23 comes out of the constituent portion 24, and the backward force of the engine 13 causes the steering shaft 11 to move backward.
It will be possible to prevent acting as a positive pushing force on the.

Although the embodiments have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention may be provided with a collapse mechanism, which is more preferable.

[0015]

As described above, the present invention can improve the passenger protection performance without increasing the capacity of the collapse mechanism. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a vehicle in which a steering device according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating the vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating a support relationship of a steering column.

FIG. 4 is a view of FIG. 3 viewed from the A direction.

FIG. 5 is a view of FIG. 3 viewed from the B direction.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating a supporting relationship of an intermediate shaft with respect to a dash panel.

FIG. 7 is an operation state diagram illustrating a case where the vehicle of FIG. 1 collides.

FIG. 8 is an operation state diagram illustrating a case where the vehicle of FIG. 2 collides.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vehicle 3 Dash Panel 11 Steering Shaft 14 Steering Gear Unit 19 Bracket 21 Intermediate Shaft 22 Seal Member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering gear unit is disposed inward of a steering shaft in a vehicle width direction and in front of a vehicle body, and a front end portion of the steering shaft and the steering gear unit are connected via an intermediate shaft. A steering device for an automobile, wherein the shaft is supported with respect to the vehicle body inward of the intermediate shaft in the axial direction.