JPH059261Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Purpose of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a steering wheel in which an air bag is housed in the pad portion.

(Prior art) Air bags used in steering wheels of automobiles, etc. inflate in the event of a collision to protect the driver from a secondary collision with an instrument panel, etc. A stowed steering wheel is shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 116537/1983.

This type of steering wheel has a boss that is fixed to the steering shaft, and an air bag is housed inside a pad that is fixed to the top of the boss and rotates together with the boss.In the event of a collision, gas or air is released into the air bag. The air bag breaks through the pads and expands in front of the driver to protect him.

However, the steering wheel attached to the tilted steering shaft is in a tilted state, and its pads are facing almost from the driver's head to the chest, but the pads are lower than the driver's head. Because of this position, even if the air bag inflates in the event of a collision, the air bag will expand to a position that is lower than the driver's head in front of the pad, so the driver's chest will come into contact with the air bag and be protected. Although this is possible, there is a risk that the driver's head will go over the air bag and collide with the instrument panel, windshield, etc.

(Problem that the invention attempts to solve) With conventional steering wheels, in the event of a collision,
Since the air bag inflates to a position lower than the driver's head in front of the pad, the driver's head is not sufficiently protected.

It is also possible to protect the driver's head by configuring the pads so that an air bag expands above the pads, but since the pads rotate together with the steering wheel body, the air bags are always inflated above the pads. It cannot be expanded upwards.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel that can reliably protect the driver's head using an air bag.

[Structure of the idea]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a steering wheel body 1 consisting of a rim portion 2, spoke portions 3, and a boss portion 4, and a steering wheel body 1 provided on the boss portion 4 to resist rotation of the steering wheel body 1. Pad section 5 that remains stationary at all times
In the steering wheel equipped with
and a pad 31 that covers this air bag 44.
The pad 3 is provided with an air bag 44 on the back surface of the pad 31 so that it expands upward in the front surface.
A slit groove 32 in which the depth of the groove part 34 on the upper side is deeper than the groove part 35 on the lower side of No. 1 to make the wall thickness thinner.
was formed.

(Function) In the present invention, the slit groove 32 is formed so that the groove depth of the upper groove part 34 of the pad 31 is deeper than that of the lower groove part 35 to make the wall thickness thinner. When inflated, pad 31
The slit groove 32 is quickly broken through from the upper side, and the air bag 44 is inflated upward toward the front surface.
Moreover, since the pad portion 5 is always in a stationary state,
The air bag 44 always inflates upward toward the front surface.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a steering wheel body, and this steering wheel body 1 includes an annular rim portion 2 in which the outer periphery of a rim core metal 2a is covered with a covering material 2b, and a spoke core metal 3a that is welded and connected to the rim core metal 2a and the outside thereof is covered. It consists of a plate-shaped spoke part 3 covered with a material 3b, and a boss part 4 having a boss 4a welded and fixed to the center part of a spoke core metal 3a.

Further, a pad portion 5 is provided on the upper part of the boss portion 4, and includes a pad 31, an air bag 44, etc., which will be described later.

The boss 4a of the boss portion 4 is a spoke core metal 3a.
Cylindrical portions 7 and 8 are provided at the upper and lower portions of the central flange portion 6 to which are welded, and ring grooves 7a and 8a are provided at the outer periphery of each tip of the cylindrical portions 7 and 8.
The center portion of the boss 4a is fitted into the upper end portion of the steering shaft 9 and fixed by a nut 10.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a cylindrical upper cylindrical member integrally formed of synthetic resin. An internal gear 14 is formed on the circumferential surface. The fitting cylindrical portion 12 is rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 7 of the boss 4a, and the ring groove 7a of the boss 4a is provided with a retaining ring which is in contact with the upper surface of the fitting cylindrical portion 12. A snap spring 15 is fitted.

16 is a cylindrical lower cylindrical member integrally formed of synthetic resin, and this lower cylindrical member 16 has a fitting cylindrical part 17 on the inside and an annular part 18 on the outer periphery. An internal gear 19 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the
Further, a plurality of locking pawls 20 are provided protruding from the lower surface. The annular cylindrical portion 17 is rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 8 of the boss 4a, and a snap spring for preventing slipping is in contact with the lower surface of the fitting cylindrical portion 17 in the ring groove 8a of the boss 4a. 21 is fitted.

A substantially U-shaped support frame 22 is fixed near the center of the spoke core metal 3a with a screw 24 via a mounting piece 23, and the internal gear 14,
A planetary gear 25 meshing with the planetary gear 19 is rotatably mounted on a support shaft 26, and a roller portion 27 is formed at the center of the outer periphery of the planetary gear 25 to intervene in the gap between the upper and lower cylindrical members 11 and 16. ing.

Below the lower cylindrical member 16 is a combination switch case 2 attached to a steering column 28 on the outer periphery of the steering shaft 9.
9 is fixed, and a plurality of locking pawls 20 of the lower cylindrical member 16 are engaged with the upper surface of the combination switch case 29.

The upper pad portion 5 of the upper cylindrical member 11 is
It has a rectangular frame-shaped pad 31 which is made of soft synthetic resin and is open on the lower surface. This pad 31 has a slit groove 32 formed on the back surface of the upper part, and this slit groove 32 is connected to a horizontal groove 33 provided along the left-right direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2) from the center of the pad 31. , consists of an upper groove part 34 and a lower groove part 35 which are branched in a substantially Y-shape from each outer end of the horizontal groove part 33, and the groove depth of the upper groove part 34 is deeper than the lower groove part 35, that is, The thickness of the pad 31 is thinner in the upper groove part 34 than in the lower groove part 35. The pad 31 is attached to the outer side of the upper cylindrical member 11 with a set screw 37 via a mounting plate 36 provided on a side wall 31a of the pad 31.

A gas generator 41 is connected to the upper part of the upper cylindrical member 11 inside the pad 31 through an annular disk 40.
is located. For example, the gas generator 41 is filled with a gas generating agent inside and blows out gas or other gas in response to a signal sent from a means (not shown) that detects this at the time of collision. A plurality of blow-off holes 42 are provided, and a flange portion 43 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end along the upper surface of the disc 40 and that fits into the inner peripheral edge of the pad 31.

An opening edge 45 of an air bag 44 is hermetically fixed to the upper surface of the flange 43 of the gas generator 41, and the air bag 44 is attached to the pad 3.
It is stored in a folded state around the gas generator 41 inside the device.

In addition, the spoke part 3 has a horn button 5.
0 is set.

Then, when the steering wheel main body 1 is rotated, the planetary gear 25 rotates and revolves through engagement with the internal gear 19 of the lower cylindrical member 16, and the internal gear 14 of the upper cylindrical member 11 rotates. The upper cylindrical member 11 is relatively rotated in the opposite direction through engagement with the upper cylindrical member 11, and thus the pad portion 5 is apparently held in a non-rotating state together with the upper cylindrical member 11.

Further, in the event of a collision, gas is rapidly blown out from the gas generator 41 to the inside of the air bag 44 based on the detection of the collision by a detection means (not shown), and the air bag 44 is expanded by internal pressure.

Due to the expansion of the air bag 44, the pad 3
1 from the inside to break through the pad 31 along the slit groove 32, and the air bag 44 expands to the outside of the pad 31. Since the pad 31 has the thinnest wall thickness, it ruptures first from its upper groove 34, and the air bag 44 inflates upward toward the front as shown in FIG.

Moreover, the pad portion 5 always remains stationary even when the steering wheel body 1 is rotated.
The air bag 44 always inflates upward.

As shown in FIG. 4, even if the driver falls forward, the driver's head will come into contact with the upwardly inflated air bag 44 and be protected.
At the same time, the chest and the like are also protected by the air bag 44.

The direction of expansion of the air bag 44 by the pad 31 is set by the pad 31 shown in the above embodiment.
The shape of the slit groove 32 is not limited to this, but the slit groove 32 may have another shape.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention, a slit groove is formed on the back side of the pad so that the groove depth on the upper side of the pad is deeper and the wall thickness is thinner than on the lower side of the pad, so that when the air bag is inflated, the groove on the lower side of the pad By quickly breaking through the slit groove in the upper groove, the air bag expands upward in the front.Moreover, since the pad is always in a stationary state, the air bag always inflates upward in the front, and during operation. The person's head can also be reliably protected and safety can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 2 showing an embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are explanatory views of its operation. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Steering wheel body, 2... Rim part, 3... Spoke part, 4... Boss part, 5... Pad part, 31... Pad, 32... Slit groove,
34... Upper groove part, 35... Lower groove part, 44...
Air bug.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A steering wheel comprising a steering wheel body consisting of a rim part, spoke parts and a boss part, and a pad part provided on the boss part to maintain a stationary state at all times against rotation of the steering wheel body. In the wheel, the pad section has an air bag stored inside and a pad enclosing the air bag, and a groove on the lower side of the pad is formed on the back side of the pad so that the air bag expands upward from the front surface. A steering wheel characterized by forming a slit groove in which the groove depth of the upper groove portion is increased to reduce the wall thickness.