JPH0724306Y2 - Steering device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a rack and pinion type steering device.

[Conventional technology]

As a steering apparatus for an automobile, one having a rack and pinion type steering mechanism as shown in FIG. 8 is widely used. In such a steering mechanism, in order to reliably mesh the rack teeth 110a of the rack shaft 110 and the pinion teeth 120a of the pinion shaft 120, the pinion shaft 1
A column-shaped rack guide (support yoke) 130 is arranged on the back side of the meshing portion with 20. This rack guide 130
Is inserted into a guide hole 101 provided in the rack housing 100 in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the rack 110 and having a sealing member 140 attached to an outer opening, and a concave curved surface 130a formed on one end surface side thereof is formed. It is in contact with the peripheral surface 110b of the rack shaft 110,
The rack shaft 110 is supported in the guide hole 101 so as to press the rack shaft 110 toward the pinion shaft 120 side with an appropriate elastic force by the pressing force of the spring 150 provided in the guide hole 101.

When the steering device is assembled, the guide hole 101
Inside, the yoke clearance amount a between the rack guide 130 and the sealing member 140 is finely adjusted for assembly.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, when the apparatus is driven, the rack guide 130 may be pushed toward the sealing member 140 side against the pressing force of the spring 150 and hit the sealing member 140 to generate a collision sound.

In addition, in order to prevent this collision noise, the rack guide 13
When the yoke clearance amount a between 0 and the sealing member 140 is increased, the play of the rack shaft 110 with respect to the pinion shaft 120, that is, the play of the steering increases, and thus the anxiety of the steering feeling of the steering increases. was there.
There is also a problem that it is difficult to finely adjust the yoke clearance amount a between the rack guide 130 and the sealing member 140. Further, when the spring 150 cannot follow the continuous input from the rack shaft 110, there is a problem that a tapping sound is generated between the rack shaft 110 and the concave curved surface 130a of the rack guide 130.

As a means for preventing the above-described collision noise, for example,
There is a steering device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-180377.
As shown in FIG. 9, this steering device is provided with a rack guide 13
A recess 140a is provided in the central portion of the surface of the sealing member 140 side of 0, and a spring 150 is interposed in the recess 140a, and the spring 150 is provided on the surface of the sealing member 140 at one end on the rack guide 130 side. The disc spring 160 is interposed between the edge 140b of the recess 140a of the rack guide 130 and the sealing member 140, while being arranged in contact with each other. Then, the spring 150 and the disc spring 1
The rack guide 130 is moved by the action of an input load on the rack shaft 110 by the pinion shaft 120, and the rack guide 130 is elastically contacted with the rack shaft 110. With the above configuration, the rack guide
Since the 130 does not directly collide with the sealing member 140, the generation of collision noise is reduced. However, since the entire concave curved surface 130a formed on one end surface side of the rack guide 130 is in contact with the peripheral surface 110b of the rack shaft 110, the surface pressure at this contact surface is large, and the rack shaft 110 with respect to the rack guide 130 has a large surface pressure. The sliding in the axial direction causes a problem that the wear of both surfaces 110b and 130a increases. Further, it was not possible to eliminate the tapping sound generated between the rack shaft and the concave curved surface 130a of the rack guide 130.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
A sliding body is inserted into a through hole formed in the radial center of a cylindrical rack guide body having a recess at the center of the end surface on the side of the sealing member, and a tray is provided between the rack guide and the sealing member. By interposing a spring and supporting this disc spring on a fulcrum portion provided on the sealing member side, the peripheral surface of the rack shaft is normally received by the end surface of the rack guide body except the end surface of the sliding body of the rack guide. The sliding of this rack shaft can be guided with a small contact area, and when a large input load is applied to the rack guide from the rack shaft, the action of the disc spring moves the end surface of the sliding body to the peripheral surface of the rack shaft. The rack shaft can be guided by the end surface of the rack guide body and the end surface of the sliding body by receiving this input load, and the rack guide can be guided when an external input load is applied by kickback or the like. To the rack axis of An object of the present invention is to provide a steering device in which the number of contact surfaces is increased, the influence of kickback, etc. can be reduced, and further, the rack guide can prevent the rack guide from directly colliding with the sealing member, and the collision noise can be mitigated. I am trying.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The steering device according to the present invention is configured such that the rack teeth of the rack shaft are meshed with the pinion teeth of the pinion shaft that is rotatably supported in the housing, while the housing is formed in the housing in a direction orthogonal to the rack shaft. In a steering device in which a rack guide loosely fitted in a guide hole having a sealing member attached to a side opening is elastically contacted with a rack shaft to press the rack shaft against the pinion shaft, And a rack guide having a cylindrical rack guide main body having a through hole in the axial direction and a recess provided in the central portion of the end surface on the sealing member side, and a slide body slidably arranged in the through hole. ,
A disc spring interposed between the sealing member and the rack guide, the end surface of the sliding member on the sealing member side being in contact with a portion near the inner edge thereof, and provided on the sealing member side in the guide hole. And a fulcrum portion that supports a portion inside the recessed outer edge of the rack guide body in the disc spring, and the rack shaft side surface of the rack guide body except the rack shaft side surface of the sliding body is normally provided. When the pinion shaft is abutted on the peripheral surface of the rack shaft and an external load is applied to the pinion shaft, the rack shaft side surface of the rack guide body and the rack shaft side surface of the sliding body contact the peripheral surface of the rack shaft. It is characterized by

[Action]

According to the present invention, when an external input load is applied from the rack shaft to the rack guide due to kickback or the like, the rack guide body is pushed by the rack shaft and moves to the sealing member side. The movement of the rack guide body pushes the vicinity of the outer edge of the disc spring by the outer edge of the concave portion of the rack guide body, and the disc spring acts as a fulcrum to seal the outer edge side by the elasticity of the disc spring. To the member side,
The inner edge side bends toward the recessed side of the rack guide body. Then, by bending the inner edge side of the disc spring to the concave side of the rack guide body, the sliding body arranged in the through hole at the radial center of the rack guide body is pushed and moved to the rack shaft side,
The surface of the sliding body on the rack shaft side contacts the peripheral surface of the rack shaft and is pressed against the rack shaft.

As described above, normally, the surface of the rack guide body on the rack shaft side excluding the surface of the sliding body of the rack guide on the rack shaft side is in contact with the peripheral surface of the rack shaft, so that the contact area of the rack shaft is small. When slidingly guided and an external load is applied to the pinion shaft, the rack shaft side surface of the rack guide body and the rack shaft side surface of the sliding body contact the peripheral surface of the rack shaft, and the rack shaft slides. Be guided. Further, the disc spring is bent by the reaction force of the force received by the kickback or the like and the sliding body is pressed against the rack shaft to receive this force in a wide area. Therefore, in normal times, the contact area is small, so the amount of wear is small, and when a load is applied to the rack guide from the outside due to kickback, etc., the contact surface with the peripheral surface of the rack shaft increases and this is evenly distributed. Since it is affected by strong force, the effect of kickback etc. can be reduced. Further, the generation of hammering sound between the concave curved surfaces of the rack shaft and the rack guide is alleviated.

Further, since the disc spring is interposed between the rack guide and the sealing member, the rack guide does not directly collide with the sealing member, and the generation of collision noise is mitigated.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment thereof. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of a first embodiment of a steering system according to the present invention. In the housing 1,
A pinion shaft 2 which is interlocked with a steering wheel (not shown) is provided, and the pinion shaft 2 supports both side portions of its pinion teeth 2a by ball bearings 3a and 3b. The rack teeth 4a formed on one surface of the cylindrical rack shaft 4 mesh with the pinion teeth 2a of the pinion shaft 2.
The left and right wheels (not shown) are positioned by positioning their axial direction in the left-right direction of the vehicle volume (not shown), and separately arranging ball joints and link members (both not shown) at both ends thereof. It is designed to be connected with. The left and right wheels are steered by changing the meshing position of the pinion shaft 2 and the rack shaft 4 with the rotation of the steered wheels and moving the rack shaft 4 in the axial direction.

A guide hole 1a is formed in a direction orthogonal to the rack shaft 4 on the back side of the meshing portion of the rack shaft 4 with the pinion shaft 2 in the housing 1, and a circle made of synthetic resin is formed in the guide hole 1a. A column-shaped rack guide 5 is fitted therein. The rack guide body 5A of the rack guide 5 has these rack shafts 4
The one axial end surface 5a on the side is formed into a concave curved surface that engages with the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4, and the housing 1 of the guide hole 1a is formed.
The one end face 5a in the axial direction is brought into contact with the rack shaft 4 by the urging force of a disc spring 6 which will be described later, which is interposed between the sealing member 7 screwed to the outer portion of the rack and the inside of the rack guide 5. By pressing the shaft 4 toward the pinion shaft 2 side, these meshed states are kept constant.

In addition, the concave curved end surface 5a of the rack guide body 5A of the rack guide 5 has a convex contact with a curved surface that is in sliding contact with the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4 in the middle abdominal portion thereof in parallel with the axial direction of the rack shaft 4. Portions 5b, 5b are provided, and an oval through hole 5c is provided in the axial direction at the center in the radial direction. Then, the sliding body 5B having a shape matching the through hole 5c is interposed. An end surface 5d of the sliding body 5B on the rack shaft 4 side is formed as a curved surface that follows the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4. In addition, a recess 5e having a trapezoidal circular cross section is formed on the end surface of the rack guide body 5A on the sealing member 7 side.
Is provided.

Further, the disc spring 6 is interposed between the sealing member 7 and the rack guide 5, and the disc spring 6 is a ring-shaped projecting portion projectingly provided on the surface of the sealing member 7 on the rack guide 5 side. The fulcrum portion 8 consisting of is supported on the inner side of the outer edge of the recess 5e of the rack guide body 5A.

With the above configuration, normally, as shown in FIG. 2, the outer edge of the recess 5e of the rack guide body 5A is brought into contact with the vicinity of the outer edge 6a of the disc spring 6, and the sealing member 7 of the sliding body 5B.
The end face on the side is brought into contact with a portion near the inner edge 6b of the disc spring 6, and the disc spring 6 presses the rack guide body 5A against the rack shaft 4 by its elastic urging force, and the rack shaft 4 is rotated by the pinion shaft 2.
Being pressed against. At this time, the end surface 5d of the sliding body 5B on the rack shaft 4 side is not in contact with the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4,
The convex contact portion 5b of the concave curved end surface 5a of the rack guide body 5A,
Only 5b is in contact with the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4 in a pressed state. In this state where the contact area is small, the rack shaft 4 slides and guides the convex contact portions 5b, 5b in the axial direction of the rack shaft.

When an input load from the outside is applied to the rack guide 5 from the rack shaft by kickback or the like, the rack guide body 5A is pushed by the rack shaft 4 and moves to the sealing member 7 side as shown in FIG. . And the rack guide body 5A
Of the disc spring 6 is pushed by the outer edge of the concave portion 5e of the rack guide body 5A to push the vicinity of the outer edge 6a of the disc spring 6.
With the fulcrum 8 as a fulcrum, the outer edge 6a of the disc spring 6 bends toward the sealing member 7 and the inner edge 6b thereof bends toward the recess 5e of the rack guide body 5A. By bending the inner edge 6b side of the disc spring 6 toward the recess 5e side of the rack guide body 5A, the sliding body 5B arranged in the through hole 5c in the radial center of the rack guide body 5A is pushed toward the rack shaft 4 side. Then, the end surface 5d of the sliding body 5B on the rack shaft 4 side is pressed against the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4.

As described above, normally, the convex contact portions 5b, 5b of the concave curved end surface 5a of the rack guide body 5A are brought into contact with the peripheral surface 4b of the rack shaft 4 so that the rack shaft 4 slides in a small contact area. When the pinion shaft 2 is guided and an external load is applied, the convex contact portions 5b, 5b of the concave curved end surface 5a of the rack guide body 5A and the rack shaft 4 side end surface 5d of the sliding body 5B form the rack shaft 4. The rack shaft 4 is guided in sliding contact with the peripheral surface 4b. In addition, the disc spring is bent by the reaction force of the force received by kickback or the like, and the sliding body 5B is pressed against the rack shaft 4 by using this principle, and this force is also received by the end face thereof. Therefore, normally, the contact area is reduced to reduce wear, and when a load is applied to the rack guide 5 from the outside due to kickback or the like, the contact surface of the rack shaft 4 to the peripheral surface 4b is increased to increase the force. It suppresses the increase of surface pressure by receiving it and reduces the influence of kickback and the like. Further, the generation of tapping sound between the rack shaft 4 and the concave curved end surface 5a of the rack guide 5 is alleviated.

Further, the disc spring 6 is provided between the rack guide 5 and the sealing member 7.
Is interposed, the rack guide 5 does not directly collide with the sealing member 7, and the generation of collision noise is mitigated.

4 and 5 exemplify the shape of the disc spring 6, and the disc spring 6 shown in FIG. 4 has a plurality of radially extending inward and outward directions from the annular portion 6c near the outer edge 6a. The spring plate portions 6d ... Are formed integrally with the ring-shaped portion 6c so as to project. Also,
The disc spring 6 shown in FIG. 5 has a plurality of V-shaped portions 6e ...
It is a series of. The disc spring 6 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is normally elastically biased so that the outer edge 6a side is bent toward the rack guide 5 side with respect to the inner edge 6b side.

FIG. 6 shows a main part of the steering apparatus of the second embodiment, in which a disk-shaped projection 7a having an appropriate diameter is provided on the surface of the sealing member 7 on the rack guide 5 side. A fulcrum portion 8 made of a hard O-ring is arranged along the outer periphery of the plate-shaped protrusion 7a. And
With this fulcrum portion 8, the recess of the rack guide 5 in the disc spring 6 is formed.
The inner part is supported from the outer edge of 5e. As described above, by supporting the disc spring 6 at the fulcrum portion 8 composed of the O-ring, there is an advantage that the shock, vibration, etc. generated in the rack guide 5 and the like can be effectively absorbed.

Further, FIG. 7 shows an essential part of the steering apparatus of the third embodiment, in which the disc spring 6 is provided between the disc spring 6 and the sealing member 7.
A spring receiver 10 made of a disk-shaped member having a fulcrum portion 8 made of a circular ring-shaped protrusion is arranged on the side surface, and a circular recess 10a is formed in the central portion of the surface of the spring receiver 10 on the sealing member 7 side. While being provided, the circular recess 7b is also formed on the surface of the sealing member 7 on the spring bearing 10 side.
Is formed, and a shock absorbing spring 9 is arranged between both circular recesses 7b and 10a. By thus disposing the spring 9 between the disk-shaped spring receiver 10 and the sealing member 7, it is possible to effectively give the rack guide 5 a preload for elastically contacting the rack shaft 4, Further, when an input load of the rack shaft 4 from the outside is applied, there is an advantage that the impact on the rack guide 5 due to the input load can be effectively absorbed, and the collision noise generation effect can be enhanced.

[Effect of device]

Since the present invention has the structure as described above and operates, the rack guide body normally receives the peripheral surface of the rack shaft at the end surface excluding the through hole of the rack guide body to make contact with the sliding of the rack shaft. It can guide in a small area, and when a large external input load is applied to the rack guide from the rack shaft due to kickback, etc., the force is used to move the end surface of the sliding body to the rack. By contacting the peripheral surface of the shaft,
The end surface of the rack guide body and the end surface of the sliding body can guide the rack shaft by receiving this input load, and when the input load from the outside is applied, the contact surface of the rack guide with the rack shaft increases and The input load can be evenly received by the end surface of the rack guide body and the end surface of the sliding body to reduce the effect of kickback, etc., and also the impact sound between the rack shaft and the concave curved surface of the rack guide can be mitigated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the rack guide from directly colliding with the sealing member by the disc spring, reduce the occurrence of collision noise, and it is better to check the yoke clearance amount by the amount of the disc spring.
There is an effect that it is not necessary to adjust the clearance amount.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an essential part of a first embodiment of a steering apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing its normal state, and FIG. 3 is an external view. An enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a state when an input load is applied, FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan views showing different examples of the shape of the disc spring, and FIG. 6 is an essential part of the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part of the third embodiment, FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view of a steering device of a conventional example, and FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view of a steering device of another conventional example. It is a figure. 1 ... Housing, 1a ... Guide hole, 2 ... Pinion shaft, 2a ...
Pinion teeth, 4 ... Rack shaft, 4a ... Rack teeth, 5 ... Rack guide, 5A ... Rack guide main body, 5B ... Sliding body, 5c ... Through hole, 5e ... Recess, 6 ... Disc spring, 7 ... Sealing member, 8 … Support point

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A pinion tooth of a pinion shaft rotatably supported in a housing meshes with a rack tooth of a rack shaft, and an outer opening formed in the housing in a direction orthogonal to the rack axis. In a steering device in which a rack guide loosely fitted in a guide hole having a sealing member attached to the rack shaft is elastically contacted with the rack shaft to press the rack shaft against the pinion shaft, And a rack guide having a cylindrical rack guide body having a through hole and a recess provided in the central portion of the end surface on the sealing member side, and a slide body slidably arranged in the through hole, and the sealing. A disc spring that is interposed between a member and a rack guide, and has an end surface of the sliding member on the side of the sealing member that is in contact with a portion in the vicinity of an inner edge thereof, and is provided on the side of the sealing member in the guide hole, In disc spring The rack guide body is provided with a fulcrum portion that supports an inner portion of the rack guide body from the outer edge thereof, and the rack shaft side surface of the rack guide body except the rack shaft side surface of the sliding body is always the peripheral surface of the rack shaft. The rudder characterized in that the rack shaft side surface of the rack guide body and the rack shaft side surface of the sliding body come into contact with the peripheral surface of the rack shaft when contacted and an external load is applied to the pinion shaft. Device.