JPH0732317Y2 - Vehicle horn device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a vehicle horn device.

(Prior Art) A horn switch in a conventional vehicle horn device is a horn button provided on a pad portion or a spoke portion of a steering wheel, a spring member for urging the horn button in a front direction thereof, and a horn button of the horn button. Most of them are composed of a plate-shaped movable electrode provided on the back surface and a plate-shaped fixed electrode provided so as to face the movable electrode.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, since the conventional horn switch described above is turned on when the movable electrode comes into contact with the fixed electrode, the driving vehicle of the vehicle pushes the horn button relatively strongly to move the movable electrode. The contact is made so that it contacts the fixed electrode to ensure that it is turned on. Therefore, the operation feeling of the horn switch is currently considerably impaired by the shock generated when the movable electrode hits the fixed electrode.

In particular, recently, there has been a growing demand for an ergonomically designed design in the field of horn devices, and the present invention has been made to meet this demand.

Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a continuous sound generating device that is provided on a steering wheel and generates a continuous sound by striking, and is arranged close to the continuous sound generating device. And a sound-electrical converter, an amplifier connected to the sound-electrical converter for amplifying an electric signal of the sound-electrical converter, and an electric-sound converter connected to the amplifier. did.

(Operation) The continuous sound generating device generates a hitting sound when hit. The striking sound is not generated only when the continuous sound generating device is struck, but continues thereafter and is gradually attenuated. Then, the impact sound is converted into an electric signal by a sound-electricity converter arranged in the vicinity of the continuous generation device. Further, the electric signal is amplified by an amplifier connected to the sound-electricity converter, and then converted into sound by the electric-sound converter.

Therefore, the vehicular horn device of the present invention operates by simply tapping the continuous sound generator, regardless of the contact between the electrode contacts,
Even if the force at that time is weak, it works reliably.

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a horn device attached to a steering wheel of an automobile will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

A steering shaft 1 is rotatably provided at the front end of a column 22 of an automobile. Same steering shaft 1
A boss 2 is fitted to the tip of the boss 2, and a boss plate 3 is fixed to the outer periphery of the boss 2. Boss plate 3
Two spoke cores (only one is shown in FIG. 1) 4 are fixed to the edges of the spokes, and a hollow ring core 5 is attached to the tip of the spoke core 4. It is fixed.

A coating layer 6 made of a synthetic resin is formed on the outer circumferences of the ring core metal 5 and the spoke core metal 4, and a ring portion 7 is formed by the ring core metal 5 and the outer peripheral coating layer 6. The spoke portions 8 are formed by the spoke portion core metal 4 and the coating layer 6 on the outer periphery thereof.

A lower cover 9 made of synthetic resin is fixed to the rear surface side (lower side in FIG. 1) of the boss plate 3 with a screw 10, and the lower cover 9 is similarly attached to the front surface side of the lower cover 9 with the boss plate 3 interposed therebetween. A pad portion 11 made of synthetic resin is detachably attached by an engagement member (not shown).

A first mounting recess 12 is formed substantially in the center of the surface of the pad portion 11, and a continuous sound generating device 13 is mounted on the front side of the pad 11 so as to seal the first mounting recess 12. . This continuous sound generator 13 is a frame member 13 made of synthetic resin.
A sheet body 13b made of a genuine leather, a synthetic resin sheet, a metal sheet or the like is formed so as to be hittable on both front and back surfaces of a. The both sheet bodies 13b are stretched so as to have a substantially uniform tension at any part, and an air layer A is formed between them. Therefore, when the sheet body 13b on the front side is hit, the sheet body 13b vibrates, and the vibration is transmitted to the sheet body 13b on the back side via the air layer A and produces a hitting sound as a whole. This striking sound is persistent and its duration is determined by changing the material, shape, tension, etc. of the sheet body 13b.

A sound-electricity converter 14 is arranged in close proximity to the back side of the continuous sound generating device 13 in the first mounting recess 12, and is fixed by tightening with a screw 15. In the present embodiment, a microphone is used as the sound-electricity converter 14 so that the impact sound can be captured. Since the first mounting recess 12 is sealed by the continuous sound generator 13,
The striking sound is reliably captured by the microphone, and moreover, abnormal noise from the outside of the pad portion 11 is less likely to enter the first mounting recess 12.

Further, on the front surface side of the pad portion 11, the first mounting recess 12
A second mounting recess 16 is formed near (on the right side of the drawing), and an amplifier 17 is mounted therein. This amplifier
Reference numeral 17 is connected to the sound-electricity converter 14 via lead wires 19a and 19b, and an amplification factor varying device (not shown) is mounted inside. A knob 18 for operating the amplification factor varying device is rotatably attached to the surface of the amplifier 17 so that the amplification factor can be changed. A voice synthesizing circuit is switchably incorporated in the amplifier 17, and when the continuous sound generating device 13 is not operated by a changeover switch (not shown), a voice signal synthesized in advance is amplified to be described later. It can be generated from an electric-sound converter.

The amplifier 17 is connected to the boss plate 3 via a lead wire 20a and is grounded, and a slip ring provided on the back surface of the lower cover 9 via lead wires 20b and 20c.
Connected to 21. This slip ring 21 has a column
A contact pin 23 attached to 22 is always in contact with the contact pin 23, and the contact pin 23 is connected to an electric-sound converter 24 and a + side power source 28 fixed in the hood of the automobile. In this embodiment, a speaker is used as the electric-sound converter 24 so as to operate as a horn.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When the driver of the vehicle operates the horn device and wants to ring the horn, he hits the sheet body 13b of the continuous sound generating device 13 located substantially in the center of the pad portion 11. Then the sheet body 1
3b vibrates and produces a striking sound. The vibration is transmitted through the air layer A inside the continuous sound generating device 13 to the back sheet body 13
The sound is transmitted to b, and the impact sound is also generated on the back side of the continuous sound generating device 13. This striking sound continues because the sheet body 13b is stretched with a predetermined strength.

The striking sound is converted into an electric signal by a sound-electricity converter 14 arranged near the continuous sound generator 13. This electrical signal, although weak in its own right, is a homo-electrical converter.
It is amplified by an amplifier 17 connected to 14. Since the amplifier 7 has a built-in amplification rate variable device, the amplification rate can be changed by rotating the knob 18 according to the magnitude of the impact sound, and the sound other than the impact sound such as voice can be changed. Can also be amplified. Further, the amplified electric signal is converted into sound again by operating the electric-sound converter 24 connected to the amplifier 17.

Therefore, the vehicle horn device of this embodiment is
It is not necessary to press the horn button strongly against the biasing force of the spring member in order to apply the movable electrode to the fixed electrode.
Just tap b to activate it and the horn will sound. Moreover, this horn does not only sound when the sheet body 13b is struck, but it continues and decays thereafter. Therefore, it can be operated with a light touch without shock and is excellent in operation feeling.

(Second Embodiment) As shown in FIG. 3, the second embodiment is a horn in which a protrusion 25a is provided in the center of the back surface of the first mounting recess 12 formed in the center of the pad portion 11. A button 25 is provided. The horn button 25 is biased in the front direction by a plurality of springs 26 interposed between the horn button 25 and the pad portion 11. Further, on the back side of the horn button 25, both ends are fastened and fixed to the pad portion 11 with screws 27, and a continuous sound generating device.
A thin metal plate as 13 is arranged apart from the protrusion 25a. The structure of parts other than the above is the same as that of the first embodiment.

Therefore, in addition to exhibiting the same action and effect as the first embodiment, the present embodiment is preferable in terms of design without causing the driver of the vehicle to feel uncomfortable because the continuous sound generating device 13 is not exposed from the pad portion 11. is there.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and can be embodied and implemented as follows, for example.

(1) In the second embodiment, the metal thin plate as the continuous sound generating device 13 may be fixed at only one end.

(2) In the first embodiment, the horn button 25 having the projection 25a formed on the front side of the sheet body 13b may be arranged as in the second embodiment.

(3) As the continuous sound generating device 13, the sheet bodies 13b attached to both front and back surfaces of the frame member 13a may be made of different materials.

Effect of the Invention As described in detail above, the vehicle horn device of the present invention has an effect that there is no shock such that the movable electrode hits the fixed electrode, and that it can be operated with a light touch and is excellent in operation feeling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an essential part of the second embodiment. 13 …… Continuous sound generator, 14 …… Sound-electric converter, 17 ……
Amplifier, 24 ... Electric-sound converter.

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-59-160329 (JP, A) JP-A-61-108031 (JP, A) Actually opened 61-122158 (JP, U) Actually opened 61-118856 (JP , U) Shoko 48-33126 (JP, Y1)

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A continuous sound generator (13) provided on a steering wheel for generating a continuous sound by striking, and a sound-electric converter (14) arranged in proximity to the continuous sound generator (13).
An amplifier (17) connected to the sound-electrical converter (14) for amplifying an electric signal of the sound-electrical converter (14), and an electric-sound converter connected to the amplifier (17) ( 24) A vehicle horn device consisting of 2. The vehicular horn device according to claim 1, wherein the continuous sound generating device (13) is a seat body stretchable to be hit. 3. The vehicle horn device according to claim 1, wherein the sound-electricity converter (14) is a microphone. 4. The vehicle horn device according to claim 1, wherein the amplifier (17) has a variable gain device.