JPH06263041A - Steering structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a steering structure by which a rack and pinion type steering gear can be mounted on a bonnet car of four-wheel drive or the like. CONSTITUTION:In a steering shaft 1, the upper end part is connected to a steering wheel 10, and the lower end part is connected to an input shaft 6d of a transfer gear 6. The transfer gear 6 is fixed to the upper part of a side frame 8, and is extended rearward to a car body together with the input and output shafts 6d and 6e while the input shaft 6d is extending upward obliquely and while the output shaft 6e is extending downward obliquely. In a front view, the output shaft 6e is arranged in its slant posture by a prescribed angle to the right side in the vehicle width direction to the input shaft 6d. The upper end part of the second shaft 12 is connected to the output shaft 6e of the transfer gear 6, and the lower end part of the second shaft 12 is connected to a rack and pinion type steering gear 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering structure adopted in a vehicle such as a four-wheel drive bonnet vehicle having a front differential gear.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional steering structure mounted on a vehicle having a four-wheel drive bonnet and having a differential gear arranged at the front has an engine at the front as shown in FIG. 4 and the differential gear 5 are arranged, the steering shaft 1 fitted in the steering column is arranged so as to extend to the front of the device such as the differential gear 5 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and at the lower end thereof. Steering gear 2
0s are connected. Then, the steering gear 20
Is attached to a side frame 8 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction. In the figure, 21 is a pitman arm.

Since the lower end portion of the steering gear 20 is arranged in front of the differential gear and the knuckle for supporting the wheels in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, the ball screw type steering gear 20 is generally used in the past. ing.

[0004]

However, in the above steering structure, since the ball screw type steering gear 20 is adopted, compared with the case where the rack and pinion type steering gear is adopted. Therefore, there is a problem that the structure is complicated and the weight becomes heavy.

In the case of power steering,
Since the assisting force is input to the steering gear 20,
It is necessary to reinforce the side frame 8 portion fixing the gear 20 as much as it can withstand the assist force.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a steering structure capable of mounting a rack-and-pinion type steering gear to a bonnet vehicle such as a four-wheel drive. There is.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a steering structure of the present invention has a steering shaft having an upper end connected to a steering wheel and extending obliquely forward in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a lower end of the steering shaft. The input shaft is connected to the input shaft, and the transfer gear that is attached to the upper portion of the side frame in a state where the axis line of the output shaft in front view is inclined with respect to the input shaft in the vehicle width direction and that changes the steering input direction, and the upper end portion It connects to the output shaft of the transfer gear and extends rearward and downward in the vehicle front-rear direction,
A second shaft having a lower end portion connected to a rack and pinion type steering gear is provided.

[0007]

[Function] Even if it is necessary to dispose the steering shaft so as to extend further forward than the front differential gear or the like in the vehicle body front direction, by installing the transfer gear, the mounting position of the steering gear can be set to a greater extent than before. It becomes possible to offset and arrange it in the front and rear direction of the vehicle body,
A rack-and-pinion type steering gear can be used as the steering gear.

Further, since it is not necessary to attach the steering gear to the side frame, when the steering is a power steering, the assist force input to the steering gear is hardly input to the transfer gear. No need to reinforce the side frame. When a vehicle collides, an axial impact is input to the steering shaft and the steering column via the side frame. At this time, in the present invention, since the second shaft extends obliquely downward from the transfer gear on the side opposite to the steering gear, the impact input from the side frame to the transfer gear will not be applied to the steering shaft and the second shaft. The impact that is dispersed and transmitted to the shaft and input to the steering shaft side is reduced. Therefore, the energy to be absorbed by the steering column becomes smaller than in the conventional case, and the thrust of the steering wheel can be suppressed weaker than in the conventional case.

At this time, in order to extend the shaft of the second shaft obliquely downward from the transfer gear, the transfer gear is fixed to the upper part of the side frame, and the output shaft of the transfer gear is rotated relative to the input shaft. By attaching the input shaft and the output shaft to the side frame in a state of being inclined in the width direction, it is possible to set the axial angle of the input shaft and the output shaft as viewed from the side of the vehicle body to be smaller than the actual axial angle, such as 60 ° or less. Therefore, the impact is effectively dispersed.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the configuration will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower end portion of the upper shaft 1a is connected to the upper end portion of the lower shaft 1b through a universal joint 2 to form a steering shaft 1.
Are coaxially fitted into the steering column 3.

The steering shaft 1 has its upper end connected to a steering wheel 10, and has an engine 4 and a differential gear 5 arranged at the front.
Further extends to the front in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and its lower end is connected to the input shaft of the transfer gear 6 via a universal joint. The transfer gear 6
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of bevel gears 6a and 6b are arranged in a housing 6c in a state of being meshed with each other with a predetermined axis angle α, and the housing 6c is a support. It is fixed to the upper part of a side frame 8 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction via a member 7. In the figure, 6d is an input shaft and 6e is an output shaft.

At this time, in the transfer gear 6, both the input and output shafts 6d and 6e extend rearward in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body while the input shaft 6d extends obliquely upward and the output shaft 6e extends obliquely downward. As shown in, the output shaft 6e in front view is installed with respect to the input shaft 6d in a state of being inclined to the right in the vehicle width direction by a predetermined angle θ. The output shaft 6e of the transfer gear 6 extending obliquely downward is connected to the upper end of the second shaft 12 via a universal joint 11, and the lower end of the second shaft 12 is connected to the pinion of the rack-and-pinion steering gear 13. Shaft 13a
Connected to.

The rack side 13b of the steering gear 13 is coaxially connected to the tie rod 14, and knuckles (not shown) for supporting wheels are connected to the ends of the tie rod 14. In the figure, reference numeral 15 shows the arrangement position of the power steering oil pump, 16 shows the arrangement position of the compressor, and 17 shows the arrangement position of the alternator.

In the steering structure having the above structure, the differential gear 5 arranged at the front side.
Even if it is necessary to avoid the above and arrange the steering shaft 1 so that the lower end portion of the steering shaft 1 is located in front of the differential gear 5 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, the transfer is not performed between the steering shaft 1 and the steering gear 13. By interposing the gear 6 and the second shaft 12, the arrangement position of the steering gear 13 can be brought close to the differential gear 5, and as described above, the steering gear 13 has a simple structure and a light weight. Rack and pinion type can be adopted.

Further, the assisting force of the power steering is input to the steering gear 13, but since the steering gear 13 is not fixed to the side frame 8,
As in the conventional case, the side frame 8 is used for the assisting force.
There is no need to reinforce. Further, since the second shaft 12 and the steering shaft 1 are disposed substantially symmetrically with respect to each other in the vertical direction, and extend from the transfer gear 6 rearward in the vehicle front-rear direction, respectively, the side frame 8 and the transfer gear 8 may collide with each other in the event of a vehicle collision. As shown in FIG. 4, the shock input to the steering shaft 1 is dispersed and transmitted to the second shaft 12 and the steering shaft 1. Therefore, the shock transmitted to the steering shaft 1 is smaller than the conventional one, and the steering shaft 1 The energy to be absorbed by the deformation of the column and the column 3 becomes small, so that the steering shaft 1
The thrust of the steering wheel 10 through the wheel becomes weak.

At this time, when the transfer gear 6 is attached, by tilting the output shaft 6e with respect to the input shaft 6d in the vehicle width direction, the shaft angle β in side view is larger than the actual shaft angle α of both shafts. Is set to, for example, 60 ° or less, and the second shaft 12 and the steering shaft 1 against the impact
To improve the dispersion efficiency.

[0017]

As described above, the steering structure of the present invention is a rack-and-pinion type for a vehicle such as a four-wheel drive vehicle having a front differential gear and the like. Steering gear can be installed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a steering structure of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a steering structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a transfer gear of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a steering structure of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional steering structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Steering Shaft 6 Transfer Gear 6d Input Shaft 6e Output Shaft 8 Side Frame 12 Second Shaft 13 Steering Gear

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering shaft having an upper end connected to a steering wheel and extending obliquely forward in the front-rear direction of a vehicle body, an input shaft connected to a lower end of the steering shaft, and an axis of the output shaft in front view. With respect to the vehicle width direction, it is attached to the upper part of the side frame in a state of being inclined, and a transfer gear for converting the steering input direction, and an upper end portion connected to the output shaft of the transfer gear and extending rearward and downward in the vehicle longitudinal direction, A steering structure comprising: a second shaft whose lower end is connected to a rack-and-pinion type steering gear.