JPH0634214Y2 - Support structure for steering mount members - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a support structure for a steering mount member, and more particularly to safety measures in the event of a collision.

(Prior Art) As a conventional steering mount member support structure, for example, a structure disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-84563 is known.

In this conventional steering mount member support structure, a knee protector is fixed to a mount member that supports a steering column, and a cushioning member is interposed between the mount member and the vehicle body.

Therefore, when the driver's knee collides with the knee protector during a frontal collision of the vehicle, the shock input to this knee protector is absorbed by the deformation of the cushioning member, and the damage given to the driver's knee is reduced. Met.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional support structure as described above, the structure for moving the steering wheel by simply absorbing the shock between the mount member and the vehicle body is
There is a risk that the driver's head may be damaged by the collision with the steering wheel at the time of a collision, because the driver does not have it.

As a countermeasure, it is necessary to separately provide a mechanism for preventing the collision between the head and the steering wheel, or a mechanism for softening the impact at the time of the collision such as a well-known collapsible mechanism. However, there is a problem that the structure becomes complicated and the cost increases.

Therefore, the present invention can absorb the impact when the knee of the driver collides with the knee protector and prevents the head of the driver from colliding with at least the central portion of the steering wheel during a frontal collision of the vehicle. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering mount member support structure capable of moving the steering wheel to the upper front of the vehicle.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the steering mount member supporting structure of the present invention, a steering shaft having a steering wheel attached to a tip thereof is rotatably supported by a steering column. In the structure, a mount member supporting the steering column is installed in the vehicle width direction, and a knee protector is fixed to the mount member so as to hit the knees of the occupant when the occupant moves forward in a vehicle collision. The member is attached to the vehicle body via a bracket so as to be rotatable forward of the vehicle body around a pivotal support point disposed below the mount member. Between the bracket and the vehicle body, the bracket is usually mounted on the vehicle body. Fixed to the front of the mount member centering on the rotation support point when excessive input is applied. There is provided a movement permitting mechanism formed so as to release the fixing so as to permit the pivotal rotation.

(Operation) In the steering mount member support structure of the present invention, the mount member is attached to the vehicle body through the bracket. Normally, the bracket is fixed to the car body,
The mount member firmly supports the steering column.

Next, in the case of a frontal collision of the vehicle body, when the occupant moves forward due to the static inertial force, first, the knee of the occupant collides with the knee protector, and the impact in the front direction is input to the mount member.

If the input impact force is excessive,
The movement allowance mechanism operates, the bracket is released from the vehicle body, and the mount member and the bracket are rotated forward around the rotation support point. It should be noted that this rotation absorbs the collision from the knee to the knee protector.

By this rotation, the steering column supported by the mount member is moved forward while rising, and the steering wheel at the tip thereof is moved forward while facing upward. This is because the rotation support point is arranged below the mount member, and the mount member rotates above the rotation support point.

Since the steering wheel is moved forward while facing upward, the head collides with at least the center of the steering wheel when the head of the driver shakes forward and downward after the knee of the driver collides with the knee protector. Can be prevented.

As described above, according to the present invention, the impact input to the knee protector is absorbed by the rotation of the mount member and the bracket, and the driver's head is prevented from colliding with at least the center of the steering wheel. The steering wheel is moved by the rotation of the mount member and the bracket.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In describing the embodiment, a left-hand drive vehicle will be taken as an example.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a steering mount member supporting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 denotes a steering column. In this steering column 1,
The steering shaft 11 is rotatably inserted, and the steering wheel is attached to the tip of the steering shaft 11.
12 is attached, and the other end of the steering shaft 11 is connected to the steering gear via a universal joint (not shown), an intermediate shaft, or the like.

Next, reference numeral 2 in the drawing denotes a mount member. The mount member 2 supports the upper portion of the steering column 1, is arranged in an instrument panel (not shown), and is installed in the vehicle width direction. The mount member 2 is formed of a metal pipe, and
The steering column has a shape bent at two places so that the intermediate portion is located rearward of the vehicle body (the arrow F in the figure indicates the front of the vehicle body) rather than the both ends. 1 is attached, and knee protectors 3, 3 are fixed by being arranged on both left and right sides of the steering column 1.

The knee protectors 3, 3 are arranged rearward of the mount member 2 so as to receive and protect the knees of the driver D when the driver D moves forward in a vehicle collision ( From FIG. 4), the two knee protectors 3, 3 are connected by a connecting bracket 31.

By the way, both ends of the mount member 2 are attached to a dash side panel 4 of the vehicle body by a right side bracket 5 and a left side bracket 6.

The right side bracket 5 is simply fixed to the dash side panel 4 by fastening bolts and nuts 51, but the left side bracket 6 is attached via a movement permitting mechanism 7 unlike this.

That is, FIG. 2 shows the left side bracket 6, and as shown in the drawing, the left side bracket 6 is formed into a substantially triangular flat plate, and the mount member 2 is slightly above the center position of the left side bracket 6. It is welded at a position closer to the front side.

Then, the lower end portion of the left side bracket 6 has a rotation support point P.
It is supported by a pin 61 so as to be rotatable around.

Further, at the front end portion and the rear end portion of the upper end portion of the left side bracket 6, the left side bracket 6 is opened in a rotation locus direction when the left side bracket 6 is rotated forward of the vehicle body F about the rotation support point P. 1
A cutout portion 62 and a second cutout portion 63 are formed.

Then, the bolts 71, 71 are inserted through the notches 62, 63 and the dash side panel 4 and fastened with the weld nut 72 to be attached to the dash side panel 4. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the attachment with the bolt 71, in which a stepped bolt is used as the bolt 71,
Two dish washers 73 are provided between the bolt head 711 and the left bracket 6 in a stacked manner. That is, the left side bracket 6 is fixed by the fastening force of the bolt 71 and the elastic force of the dish washer 73 to fix the dash side panel 4.
When the excessive input exceeding the fixing force is input to the left side bracket 6 in the forward direction, the left side bracket 6 is allowed to rotate forward.

As described above, the movement allowance mechanism 7 is configured by the notches 62, 63, the nut 72, the bolt 71, and the counter washer 73.

Normally, the left bracket 6 is arranged with respect to the bolt 71 such that the bolt 71 is located at the deepest position of the notches 62 and 63. In this state, the steering column 1 and the steering wheel 12 are also normally steered. It is placed in a position where

Next, the operation will be described.

(B) Normal state As described above, in the normal state, the left side bracket 6 has the bolt 71
Are fixed to the normal positions arranged at the innermost sides of the notches 62 and 63. In this state, the steering column 1 and the steering wheel 12 are firmly supported by the mount member 2 in a state of being arranged at a position suitable for steering.

(B) At the time of vehicle collision When the vehicle collides with the front, the driver D moves forward by the static inertial force as shown in the operation explanatory view of FIG.

Then, due to the forward movement of the driver D, the knee of the driver D collides with the knee protector 3 and the forward impact is input to the mount member 2, and further, both brackets 5, which support the mount member 2, It is also entered in 6.

Then, in the left side bracket 6, as shown in FIG.
When the input N from the mount member 2 acts so as to rotate around the rotation support point P, and this input N (impact force) is an excessive input of a predetermined value or more, the bolts that constitute the movement permitting mechanism 7 The left side bracket 6 rotates around the rotation support point P by overcoming the fixing force of the 71 and the spring washer 73.

The rotation of the left bracket 6 causes the mount member 2 to move.
Oscillates (indicated by an arrow Y) such that the left end rotates upward in the vehicle front F with the right end supported by the right bracket 5 as a fulcrum. By the swing of the mount member 2, a part of the impact input from the knee to the knee protector 3 is absorbed.

The swing of the mount member 2 as described above causes the steering column 1 supported by the mount member 2.
As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle is moved forward while moving forward, and the steering wheel 12 at the tip of the vehicle is moved forward while moving upward. This is because the rotation support point P is disposed below the support position of the mount member 2 on the left bracket 6, and the mount member 2 rotates above the rotation support point.

Since the steering wheel 12 is moved forward while facing upward in this way, when the head of the driver D is swung forward and downward after the driver D collides his knee with the knee protector 3 as shown in the figure. It is possible to prevent the head from colliding with at least the central portion of the steering wheel 12. That is, since the central portion of the steering wheel 12 is supported by the steering shaft 11 and has the highest support rigidity, damage is caused when the head collides with this portion and in the axial direction of the steering shaft 11. Is big. However, since the rim portion of the steering wheel 12 is made of an elastic material and has a low support rigidity, the damage at the time of a collision is considerably low.

As described above, in this embodiment, the impact input to the knee protector 3 is absorbed by the rotation of the mount member 2 and the left bracket 6, and the steering wheel 12 moves by the rotation of the mount member 2 and the left bracket 6. This prevents the head of the driver D from colliding with at least the center of the steering wheel 12.

That is, in the structure of the embodiment, it is possible to simultaneously reduce the damage to the knee and the damage to the head that are given to the driver at the time of a collision.

Although the embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

For example, in the embodiment, the knee protector is provided at the front position of the driver's seat, but it may be provided at the front position of the passenger seat.

In the embodiment, the movement permitting mechanism is provided on one of the left and right brackets of the mount member, but it may be provided on both of them.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, in the steering mount member supporting structure of the present invention, it is possible to absorb the impact when the knee of the driver collides with the knee protector at the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle, and the driver can In order to prevent the head of the vehicle from colliding with at least the center of the steering wheel, the steering wheel can be moved to the front upper side of the vehicle. In addition, the above-mentioned effect can be obtained with a simple configuration, and there is also an advantage that it is advantageous in terms of cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a steering mount member support structure of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a left bracket which is a main part of the embodiment structure, and FIG. 3 is a main part of the embodiment structure. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a certain movement permitting mechanism, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining the operation of the embodiment structure. 1 ... Steering column 2 ... Mount member 3 ... Knee protector 4 ... Dash side panel (car body) 6 ... Left side bracket 7 ... Movement allowance mechanism 11 ... Steering shaft 12 ... Steering wheel P ... Rotation support Point D: Driver

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A steering shaft having a steering wheel attached to a front end thereof is rotatably inserted into and supported by a steering column, and a mount member supporting the steering column is erected in a vehicle width direction. A knee protector is fixed so that the occupant's knees may hit when the occupant moves forward in the event of a collision, and the mount member is rotatable forward of the vehicle body around a pivotal support point located below the mount member. It is attached to the vehicle body via a bracket, and between the bracket and the vehicle body, the bracket is normally fixed to the vehicle body, and when the input is excessive, the forward rotation of the mount member around the rotational support point is allowed. A steering mount equipped with a movement permitting mechanism formed so as to release the fixation. Member support structure.