JPH06183352A - Steering column supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the compactness of mechanism for supporting the steering column of a vehicle to the body side so as to keep the knees of a driver from coming in contact with the support mechanism, and heighten the vertical rigidity of the support mechanism so as to suppress the vibration of a steering wheel. CONSTITUTION:The upper part of a U-shape upper bracket 11 for holding the steering column of a vehicle from below is inserted from below into a support member 19 of gate-shape cross section rigidly fixed to the body side, and the upper bracket 11 is fitted to the support member 19 by a bolt 23 inserted through from the lateral direction to support the steering column.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for supporting a steering column in the driver's seat of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a conventional steering column supporting device for a driver's seat of a vehicle has an upper bracket 2 and a lower bracket 3 which are substantially U-shaped above and below the steering column 1, respectively. By hugging from below, screwing bolts 5 from below the left and right flanges 4 formed on the upper ends of both brackets 2, 3, and attaching both brackets 2, 3 to the support member 7 fixed to the body 6, Although configured to support the steering column 1, in particular, the upper bracket 2
Since the left and right flanges 4 and the support members 7 for attaching them are relatively large overhanging to the left and right of the steering column 1, when the vehicle collides head-on and the driver suddenly moves forward, There is a risk that the knee may contact the left and right flanges 4 of the upper bracket 2 and the support member 7.

Also, the flange 4 of the upper bracket 2
Are extended to the left and right, the lateral distance A between the mounting bolt 5 and the steering column 1 is large, and the rigidity of the upper bracket 2 in the vertical direction tends to be insufficient. When vibrating, the steering column 1 is easily affected by the vibration, and thus it is difficult to suppress the vibration of a steering handle (not shown) attached to the upper end of the steering column 1.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention reduces the size of the device for supporting the steering column on the body side so that the supporting device does not project laterally of the steering column, and The risk of coming into contact with the support device is reduced, and the rigidity of the support device in the vertical direction is increased to suppress the vibration of the steering handle attached to the steering column.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, a steering column supporting device according to the present invention includes a substantially U-shaped bracket for holding a steering column from below, a support member fixed to a body side, and It has a bolt that inserts the upper portion of the bracket from the lateral direction and attaches the bracket to the support member.

[0006]

As described above, since the bolt for attaching the substantially U-shaped bracket to the support member is inserted through the upper portion of the bracket in the lateral direction, the bracket and the support member for attaching the bracket need to extend in the lateral direction of the steering column. Therefore, the lateral shape thereof can be easily reduced in size, and the lateral distance between the attachment point of the bracket and the steering column center line with respect to the support member can be made relatively small so that the vertical direction can be reduced. The rigidity of the bracket can be increased as compared with the conventional device.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be specifically described below. 1 to 3, the steering column 10 installed in the driver's seat of the vehicle is substantially U at two upper and lower positions.
V-shaped upper bracket 11 and lower bracket 12
The lower bracket 12 is attached to the upper support member 15 by screwing the bolts 14 from below the left and right flanges 13 formed at the upper ends of the upper bracket 11 as in the conventional case. Each of them has a hole 16 which is long in the front-rear direction and is formed in the lateral direction, and a column 17 having a U-shaped cross section is sandwiched between the left and right upper parts of the upper bracket 11 so as to surround the inner opening of each elongated hole 16 and move forward. Upper bracket 11 in the open state
The structure is welded to the upper left and right of the.

On the other hand, a front end 20 of a support member 19 having a gate-shaped cross section is firmly welded to a cross pipe 18 extending in the vehicle width direction and fixed at both ends to a vehicle body (not shown). Bolt holes 21 are formed on the rear sides of both sides, and a nut 22 is welded to the outer surface of one of the bolt holes 21 to support the support member 19 from below.
After the upper part of the upper bracket 11 is inserted inside,
From the lateral direction, the bolt 23 is the bolt hole 2 of the support member 19.
1, the upper bracket 11 is attached to the support member by being inserted into the long holes 16 and the columns 17 of the upper bracket 11 and screwed into the nut 22.
The steering column 10 is supported on the body side.

In this case, the bolts 23 for attaching the upper bracket 11 to the support member 19 are arranged laterally with respect to the upper left and right upper portions of the upper bracket 11, and there is no portion protruding to the left and right of the steering column 10. The periphery of the upper bracket 11 that supports the column 10 is laterally downsized as compared with the conventional device, and therefore, even in the case where the vehicle collides head-on and the driver suddenly moves forward, The risk of the driver's knees located on the left and right of the column 10 coming into contact with the upper bracket 11, the support member 19, etc. is greatly reduced, and the driver's protection can be further increased.

Further, since the mounting bolts 23 of the upper bracket 11 are arranged in the lateral direction, the lateral width between the mounting point of the upper bracket 11 and the center line of the steering column 10 with respect to the support member 19 is smaller than that of the conventional device. Since the rigidity of the upper bracket 11 in the vertical direction is decreased, the upper bracket 1 is reduced.
There is an advantage that the influence of the vibration of the vehicle body on the steering column 10 supported by 1 is reduced, and it becomes easy to take measures against the vibration of the steering wheel.

Furthermore, by arranging the mounting bolts 23 of the upper bracket 11 in the lateral direction, the required number of the bolts 23 can be easily compared with the conventional device in which the mounting bolts are arranged vertically on the left and right of the steering column 10. Since it can be halved, not only the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts and assembling work, but also the weight of the entire device can be easily reduced by downsizing of the upper bracket 11 etc. Is big.

[0012]

In the steering column support device according to the present invention, a substantially U-shaped bracket that holds the steering column from below is attached to the support member by a bolt that laterally inserts the upper portion thereof. Since the lateral shape of the bracket and the support member can be easily reduced in size, it is possible to reduce the risk of the driver's knee coming into contact with the supporting device and enhance the protection of the driver, and at the same time, to the support member. Since it is easy to increase the vertical rigidity of the bracket by reducing the lateral distance between the mounting point of the bracket and the center line of the steering column, it is relatively possible to suppress the vibration of the steering handle at the upper end of the steering column. There is an advantage that it becomes easier, and the required number of the above bolts is reduced to reduce the number of parts. The reduction of assembly man-hours can be advantageously reduced cost and weight.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded enlarged view of a main part of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a conventional device.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Steering Column 11 Upper Bracket 17 Strut 18 Cross Pipe 19 Support Member 23 Bolt

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substantially U-shaped bracket for holding a steering column from below, a support member fixed to a body side, and a bolt for laterally inserting an upper portion of the bracket to attach the bracket to the support member. Steering column support device having.