JPH0621812Y2 - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a steering wheel in which an annular rim core metal is covered with a coating layer made of a soft synthetic resin.

(Prior Art) In a steering wheel in which a ring-shaped rim core metal is coated with a coating layer made of a soft synthetic resin, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication 57
No. 165564 or Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 49-106029.
As disclosed in the publication, there is a rim cored bar that is made lighter by using a pipe or a sheet metal part having a substantially semicircular cross section.

This steering wheel is manufactured by bending a rim cored bar of a pipe or a sheet metal part into a ring shape, abutting both ends of the rim core bar, and fixing it by welding, and as shown in FIG. The molten synthetic resin is injected from the outer peripheral direction of the rim core metal 1 placed in the molding die from the gate portion 2 of the molding die to form the coating layer 3 around the rim core metal 1.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Although the coating layer 3 is formed on the outer periphery of the rim core metal 1 as described above, the molten synthetic resin injected from the gate portion 2 when the coating layer 3 is molded. Is a turbulent flow that does not flow along the outer peripheral surface of the rim core metal 1 by hitting the circular outer peripheral surface of the rim core metal 1 having a width with respect to the direction of injection from the gate portion 2. Bubbles 4 are generated in the coating layer 3 on the surface of the core metal 1 and the surface appearance of the coating layer 3 is impaired.

When the rim core metal 1 is a sheet metal part having a substantially semicircular cross section,
Air accumulates on the opposite side of the gate portion 2 and the residual air is engulfed by the resin, and defects such as bubbles 4 are likely to occur in the coating layer 3. This is particularly because, in the gate portion 2, the rim core metal 1 serves as a wall portion that obstructs the flow directly in front of the injection direction, and an air reservoir is formed from the beginning on the opposite side of the injection direction, that is, on the opening side of the rim core metal 1. It depends.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
From the beginning, the remaining air in the gate part is eliminated, and further, it does not interfere with the resin flow from the gate part,
An object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel in which bubbles and the like are prevented from being generated in the coating layer.

[Constitution of device]

(Means for Solving Problems) The present invention relates to a steering wheel 11 in which an annular rim core metal 21 is coated with a coating layer 24 made of a soft synthetic resin.
The rim cored bar 21 is formed in an annular shape having a cross-sectional shape that opens to the inner peripheral side, and both end portions 22, 22 are flattened in the direction of the gate portion 25 of the coating layer 24 and integrally fixed. is there.

(Operation) In the present invention, since the end portions 22 of the rim core metal 21 are flat in the direction of the gate portion 25, when the coating layer 24 is formed on the rim core metal 21, the rim core metal 21 is exposed to air. There is no residue from the beginning, and the resin flow from the gate part 25 is not hindered, and the coating layer
It is possible to prevent bubbles and the like from being generated in 24.

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

1 to 7, reference numeral 11 denotes a steering wheel, which includes a boss portion 12, an annular rim portion 13 located on the outer circumference of the boss portion 12, the rim portion 13 and the boss portion. It is composed of a spoke portion 14 that connects 12 and 12.

The boss portion 12 is provided with a metal boss 16 having a flange portion 15 formed on the outer periphery of the upper end thereof. As shown in FIG.
It is fitted to the steering shaft 17 and fixed to the steering shaft 17 with a nut 18.

The spokes 14 are front and rear (lower side and upper side in FIG. 1).
Equipped with a pair of spoke cores 19 and 20, each of these spoke cores
The central portions of the members 19 and 20 are fixed to the lower portion of the flange portion 15 on the outer side of the front and rear of the boss 16 by welding.
Between both ends are drawn to the driver side so as to be formed in a V shape, and are further connected to the rim portion 13 at both end connecting portions 19a and 20a.
Are bent along the rim portion 3 in the front-rear directions opposite to each other in an arc shape. In addition, the spoke core metal 20
The end portion of the coupling portion 20a extends to a position slightly forward of the front-rear center position of the rim portion 13.

The rim portion 13 is provided with a rim cored bar 21 having a semicircular cross-section opening to the inner peripheral side and formed in an annular shape. Both end parts 22, 22 of the rim cored bar 21 have a gate part 25 described later. It is squeezed in parallel to correspond to the direction of and is formed into a flat shape.
The gate portion 25 is formed when the coating layer is formed by overlapping 22 and 22.
And a cored bar gate portion 23 which is disposed so as to face the injection position of the molten synthetic resin. Then, with the entire diameter of the rim core bar 21 widened, the rim core bar 21 is fitted to the outer periphery of the joint parts 19a, 20a of the spoke core bars 19, 20 and the both end parts 22, 22 are overlapped with each other so that the joint parts 19a, 20a A portion of the rim cored bar 21 located on the outer periphery is fixed to the connecting portions 19a, 20a by resistance welding, and both ends 22, 22 are integrally fixed by resistance welding to form a cored bar gate portion 23.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, this rim core bar 21
Also, a part of the outer peripheries of the spoke cores 19 and 20 on the end side is covered with a coating layer 24 made of a soft synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. Core metal gate 23
Are molded by injecting a molten synthetic resin from the gate portions 25 arranged opposite to each other.

In addition, the lower surface of the boss portion 12 and the spoke portion 14 is covered with a back cover body.
26 integrally cover the boss portion 12 and the spoke portion 14.
A cover body 27 integrally covers the upper surface of the.

Then, with this steering wheel 11, the rim core metal
Since the core metal gate portion 23 of 21 is flat in the direction of the gate portion 25, when the coating layer 24 is formed on the rim core metal 21, air does not remain on the rim core metal 21 from the beginning, and further, the gate portion The flow of the resin from 25 is not obstructed and flows along the surface of the cored bar gate portion 23 without generating turbulent flow, thereby preventing bubbles and the like from being generated in the coating layer 24.

Further, since the annular rim core bar 21 having a semicircular cross section that opens to the inner peripheral side is used, the weight can be further reduced as compared with the case where a pipe is used, and moreover, the cross-sectional outer shape is not circular. There is no idling of the coating layer 24 with respect to the rim core bar 21 and the bond is strong. The rim core bar 21 may have a C-shaped or U-shaped cross section.

In addition, the connecting portions 19a, 2 of the rim core metal 21 and the spoke core metals 19, 20
Since the fixing to 0a and the fixing of the both end portions 22, 22 of the rim cored bar 21 may be performed by resistance welding, inexpensive and quick welding connection can be performed. The rim core metal 21 and the joint portions 19a and 20a may be fixed to each other and the both end portions 22 and 22 may be fixed to each other by caulking, and similar to the resistance welding, they can be quickly and inexpensively joined.

In the above embodiment, the flat end portions 2 of the rim core metal 21 are
The core metal gate portion 23 was formed by stacking 2 and 22 together,
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the other end 22 may be fitted inside the one end 22 to form the cored bar gate portion 23. In this case, the cored bar gate 23 is formed. Since the tip of the portion 23 facing the gate portion 25 is circular, the flow of the molten synthetic resin injected from the gate portion 25 can be further smoothed.

[Effect of device]

According to the present invention, since both ends of the rim core metal are flattened and integrally fixed in the direction of the gate portion of the coating layer, when the coating layer is formed on the rim core metal, air remains on the rim core metal. However, the flow of the resin from the gate portion is not hindered from the beginning, and therefore it is possible to prevent bubbles and the like from being generated in the coating layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention in a cored bar state, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a rim portion in the cored bar state. Fig. 4, Fig. 4 is a partial perspective view of the rim core bar, Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the rim portion, Fig. 6 is an overall plan view, Fig. 7 is its sectional view, and Fig. 8 is the present invention. FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view of a rim cored bar showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the rim portion thereof, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the rim portion showing a conventional steering wheel. 11 …… Steering wheel, 21 …… Rim core bar, 22 ……
Edge, 24 ... Covering layer, 25 ... Gate section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A steering wheel in which an annular rim core metal is covered with a coating layer made of a soft synthetic resin, wherein the rim core metal is formed in an annular shape having a cross-sectional shape that opens to the inner peripheral side, and both ends are formed. The steering wheel is characterized in that the portion is flattened in the direction of the gate portion of the coating layer and integrally fixed.