JPH07257401A - Steering column arranging structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a steering column arranging structure with a good load holding performance in a lateral direction while preventing the deformation of a clamp bracket and restraining a production cost. CONSTITUTION:A steering column arranging structure is formed in such a way that a steering column 2 is inserted and installed in the recessed part 3a of a clamp bracket 3 with a nearly opposite hat shape section and both flange pieces 3b, 3b on the upper side of the clamp bracket 3 are installed on a carbody installation part separatably and also a stopper bracket 8 in contact with the upper side of the recessed part 3a when it is shortened by an impact load is installed on the steering column 2. Outer deformation prevention parts 9a, 9a and inner deformation prevention parts 9b, 9b for preventing the deformation of the clamp bracket 3 by making contact with the inner sides 3e, 3e and the outer sides 3d, 3d of the recessed part 3a are formed on the stopper bracket 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for supporting a steering column of an automobile on a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a structure for disposing a steering column of an automobile of this type, an actual construction 62 shown in FIGS.
Those described in, for example, JP-A-61769 are known. In such a structure, the steering shaft 1 connected to the steering wheel H is built in the steering column 2. The steering column 2 is inserted into a recess 3a of a clamp bracket 3 having a substantially inverted hat-shaped cross section and is supported by a tilt mechanism 4 so as to be vertically movable.

In this tilt mechanism 4, a clamp shaft 4a is inserted into a tilt clamp 2a welded to the lower surface side of the steering column 2, and the clamp shaft 4a is inserted into tilt guide grooves 3c and 3c formed in the clamp bracket 3. It is configured to be slid up and down with and to be fixed by tightening with the tilt lever 4b at an appropriate position.

Slide blocks 5, 5 are provided on the left and right flange pieces 3b, 3b on the upper side of the clamp bracket 3, respectively.
Are arranged so that the slide blocks 5 and 5 can be attached to the vehicle body attachment portion 6.

The steering column 2 absorbs a secondary impact load when an occupant collides with the steering wheel H.
A secondary impact load absorbing mechanism is provided in which the vehicle interior side column 2e is telescopically retracted and shortened in the engine room side column 2d.

Further, the steering column 2 is provided with a stopper bracket 2c which comes into contact with the upper side of the recess 3a when shortened by the secondary impact load.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the slide blocks 5 and 5 are detached from the clamp bracket 3 by the contact of the stopper bracket 2c, and the clamp bracket 3 is detached from the vehicle body mounting portion 6. There is.

In particular, when an airbag device is provided on the handle H, the weight of the handle H increases and the impact load increases.

In another conventional example shown in FIG. 7, the clamp bracket 7 is divided into a first clamp bracket 7a and a second clamp bracket 7b to improve the rigidity of the upper portion of the clamp bracket 7. The load retention performance is improved. Since the other configurations are substantially the same as those of the above-mentioned conventional example, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

[0010]

However, in the conventional device shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, when receiving the secondary impact load, the input F is an arrow along the axial direction of FIG. It acts as a component force in the F1 direction and in the arrow F2 direction orthogonal to the axial direction. In this case, the steering column 2
Is attached to the lower portion of the clamp bracket 3 via the clamp shaft 4a, the load is transmitted from the lower portion of the clamp bracket 3 to the upper portion of the clamp bracket 3, and as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Deform the upper part in an unexpected direction inward and outward,
While not being able to absorb the shock effectively, such deformation
There is a possibility that normal operation of the secondary shock load absorbing mechanism may be hindered.

Further, in another conventional example shown in FIG. 7, since the clamp bracket 7 is constructed by being divided into a first clamp bracket 7a and a second clamp bracket 7b, it is necessary to make the clamp bracket 7 only. Parts required Figure 4
~ The structure becomes more complicated than the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, the cost rises, and the manufacturing cost increases.

Moreover, since the lower part of the second clamp bracket 7b is open, there is a problem that the steering column 2 is weak against a lateral load.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering column arrangement structure which can prevent the deformation of the clamp bracket, suppress the manufacturing cost, and have a good lateral load holding performance. .

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in the first aspect, a steering column is provided in a recess of a clamp bracket having a substantially inverted hat cross section. Is attached and attached, both flange pieces on the upper side of the clamp bracket are detachably attached to the vehicle body attaching portion, and a stopper bracket that comes into contact with the upper side of the concave portion when shortened by an impact load is attached to the steering column. In the steering column arrangement structure provided, the steering column arrangement structure is characterized in that the stopper bracket is formed with a deformation preventing portion that comes into contact with the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the recess.

[0015]

[Operation] According to claim 1 of such means,
When the impact load is input to the steering column, the impact load is transmitted from the steering column to the clamp bracket, and the clamp bracket tends to be deformed. However, since the stopper bracket is formed with a deformation preventing portion that abuts the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the recess of the clamp bracket to prevent the clamp bracket from being deformed, the steering column is impacted in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction. Even if a load is applied, the deformation preventing portion abuts and supports from the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the concave portion of the clamp bracket.

Therefore, the concave portion of the clamp bracket is
As in the conventional case, even if the direction of the secondary collision load is different from the axial direction, it does not deform inward or outward.

Further, since this clamp bracket has an inverted hat type cross-sectional shape, the flange piece to which the slide block is attached can be integrally formed, and the cost can be suppressed.

Moreover, the cross-section of the inverted hat type has a higher rigidity in the lateral direction and a better load holding performance than those having a clamp bracket whose lower side is open.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that the same or equivalent parts as those in the conventional example will be described with the same reference numerals.

In the first embodiment, a steering shaft 1 connected to a steering wheel H equipped with an air bag device is built in a steering column 2. The steering column 2 is inserted into the concave portion 3a of the clamp bracket 3 having a substantially inverted hat-shaped cross-section, and the tilt mechanism 4 is inserted.
Therefore, it is supported so that it can move up and down.

In this tilt mechanism 4, a clamp shaft 4a is inserted into a tilt clamp 2a welded to the lower surface side of the steering column 2, and the clamp shaft 4a is inserted into tilt guide grooves 3c, 3c formed in the clamp bracket 3. It is configured to be slid up and down with and to be fixed by tightening with the tilt lever 4b at an appropriate position.

Slide blocks 5, 5 are provided on the left and right flange pieces 3b, 3b on the upper side of the clamp bracket 3, respectively.
Is provided so that the slide blocks 5 and 5 can be attached to the vehicle body attachment portion.

The steering column 2 absorbs a secondary impact load when an occupant collides with the steering wheel H.
A secondary shock load absorbing mechanism is provided in which the vehicle interior side column 2e is telescopically retracted and shortened in the engine room side column.

A stopper bracket 8 is provided on the steering column 2.

When a primary impact load from the front of the vehicle is applied to the stopper bracket 8, the stopper bracket 8 comes into contact with the clamp bracket 3 and the steering column 2 to the inside of the vehicle compartment.
The primary contact pieces 8a, 8a for preventing the protrusion of the secondary contact piece 8a and the secondary contact piece 8 for contacting the upper side of the concave portion 3a when shortened by the secondary impact load generated when the occupant collides with the steering wheel.
b and 8b are formed.

The positions of the secondary abutment pieces 8b, 8b are lower than the primary abutment pieces 8a, 8a by a height h as shown in FIG. 2 in consideration of the arrangement on the clamp bracket 3. Is set to.

When the secondary contact pieces 8b, 8b contact the clamp bracket 3, the slide blocks 5, 5 are detached from the clamp bracket 3,
The clamp bracket 3 is detached from the vehicle body mounting portion.

The secondary contact pieces 8b, 8b have a shape in which an edge portion extends toward the front of the vehicle, and contact the outer surface side 3d of the concave portion 3a of the clamp bracket 3 to clamp the clamp bracket 3. The outer deformation preventing portions 9a, 9a are formed as one of the deformation preventing portions that prevent the deformation of the outer peripheral portion.

Further, a tip is formed between the primary contact piece 8a and the secondary contact piece 8b of the stopper bracket 8 with a cross section of approximately L.
An outer side deformation preventing portion as one of the deformation preventing members for preventing the deformation of the clamp bracket 3 by presenting a bent shape and abutting the bent portion on the inner surface side 3e of the recess 3a of the clamp bracket 3 9b and 9b are formed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

With this structure, when an impact load is applied to the steering column 2, the steering column 2
This impact load is transmitted from the clamp bracket 3 to the clamp bracket 3 to try to deform the clamp bracket 3. However, the stopper bracket 8 has an inner surface side 3e, 3e and an outer surface side 3d, 3d of the recess 3a of the clamp bracket 3.
The inner deformation preventing portions 9b, 9b and the outer deformation preventing portion 9 that come into contact with and prevent the clamp bracket 3 from being deformed.
Since the a and 9a are formed, for example, even when an impact load is applied in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction which is the arrow F2 direction shown in FIG. 5, the deformation preventing portions 9a and 9b are provided in the concave portion 3a of the clamp bracket. Inner surface side 3e, 3e and outer surface side 3d, 3
It abuts from d and supports.

Therefore, the concave portion 3 of the clamp bracket 3 is
Even when the direction of the secondary collision load is different from the axial direction, a is deformed inward or outward while being supported by the inner deformation preventing portions 9b, 9b and the outer deformation preventing portions 9a, 9a as in the conventional case. There is no. Therefore, the shock absorbing property is good and the slide block 5 is deformed due to the deformation of the clamp bracket 3.
So-called twisting or the like does not occur in the mounting portion, which prevents the clamp bracket 3 from coming off from the vehicle body mounting portion.

In this embodiment, since the airbag H having a predetermined weight is arranged on the handle H, the arrow F2
The impact load increases in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction, which is the direction. The deformation of the clamp bracket 3 due to the impact load can be minimized by the deformation preventing portions 9a and 9b, and the impact load can be effectively applied in the arrow F1 direction to obtain an effective impact absorption performance.

Further, since the clamp bracket 3 has an inverted hat type cross-sectional shape, the flange pieces 3b, 3b for mounting the slide blocks 5, 5 can be integrally formed, and the cost can be suppressed without increasing the number of parts. You can do it.

In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the inverted hat type has higher lateral rigidity and better load holding performance than the conventional one having the clamp bracket 7b having an open bottom.

Moreover, in the steering column arrangement structure of this embodiment, the secondary contact pieces 8b, 8b are the primary contact pieces 8.
Since it is configured so as to be located below the heights a and 8a by the height h, the flange pieces 3b and 3b of the clamp bracket 3 are connected to the primary contact pieces from below as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 8a, 8a, secondary contact piece 8 to the rear of the vehicle
By sliding in the directions b and 8b as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, the recess 3a can be inserted and assembled between the outer deformation preventing portion 9a and the inner deformation preventing portion 9b of the stopper bracket 8.

Therefore, even if the outer deformation preventing portion 9a and the inner deformation preventing portion 9b are integrally formed with the stopper bracket 8, the outer deformation preventing portion 9a and the inner deformation preventing portion 9b hinder the assembling at the time of assembling. Easy to assemble without doing Therefore, it is not necessary to form a component having these deformation preventing functions as a separate component, and there is no fear of increasing the number of components.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the present invention can be applied even if there is a design change or the like without departing from the scope of the invention. include. For example, in the embodiment described above, when the primary impact load from the front of the vehicle is applied to the stopper bracket 8, the primary contact piece 8a that contacts the clamp bracket 3 and prevents the steering column 2 from protruding toward the vehicle interior side. , 8a are formed, the primary contact piece 8a,
It is not necessary to form 8a.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, the deformation preventing portion for preventing the deformation of the clamp bracket by contacting the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the concave portion of the clamp bracket. Since it is formed on the stopper bracket, even if an impact load is applied in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction, the deformation preventing portion abuts and supports from the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the concave portion of the clamp bracket.

Therefore, the concave portion of the clamp bracket is
As in the conventional case, even if the direction of the secondary collision load is different from the axial direction, it does not deform inward or outward.

Further, since this clamp bracket has an inverted hat type cross-sectional shape, the flange piece to which the slide block is attached can be integrally formed, and the cost can be suppressed.

In addition, the inverted hat type cross-sectional shape provides a steering column arrangement structure having higher lateral rigidity and better load holding performance than those having a clamp bracket having an open bottom. It has the practically useful effect of being able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a steering column arrangement structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, showing a steering column arrangement structure of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part of the steering column arrangement structure of the same embodiment, seen from above.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a steering column arrangement structure of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a structure of a steering column according to a conventional example, illustrating how the clamp bracket is detached from the vehicle body mounting portion.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 5, showing a steering column arrangement structure of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing another conventional steering column arrangement structure corresponding to a position along line BB in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Steering column 3 Clamp bracket 3a Recessed parts 3b, 3b Flange piece 3d Outer side surface 3e Inner side surface 6 Vehicle side mounting part 8 Stopper bracket Deformation prevention part 9a, 9a Outer deformation prevention part 9b, 9b Inner deformation prevention part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering column is inserted and mounted in a concave portion of a clamp bracket having a substantially inverted hat-shaped cross-sectional shape, and both flange pieces on the upper side of the clamp bracket are detachably mounted to a vehicle body mounting portion, and In a steering column arrangement structure in which a steering column is provided with a stopper bracket that abuts on the upper side of the recess when shortened by an impact load, the stopper bracket is deformed to abut on the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the recess. A steering column arrangement structure characterized in that a prevention portion is formed.