JPH0732323Y2 - Telescopic steering column - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a telescopic steering column in a vehicle such as an automobile.

[Prior Art] Generally, in a telescopic steering column of an automobile, a steering shaft having a steering wheel mounted thereon and a movable part such as a telescopic sleeve for protecting the steering shaft are configured to be axially expandable and contractable from a fixed part such as an upper jacket. In addition, the driver's optimum driving position can be secured. A key lock unit is attached to the upper jacket. The key lock unit is a mechanism that prevents the steering shaft from rotating in order to prevent the vehicle from being stolen. on the other hand,
The upper jacket is fixed to the vehicle body via an upper clamp. The lower jacket is fitted in the upper jacket in the axial direction, and the upper clamp is fixed so as to be detachable from the vehicle body, so that the upper clamp detaches from the vehicle body in the foot direction in response to a so-called secondary collision of the vehicle. At the same time, the upper jacket moves in the axial direction of the lower jacket, and the entire jacket contracts to absorb it.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional telescopic steering column, when the driving position is changed by performing the telescopic operation, the key lock unit does not move together with the steering wheel, which makes it difficult to perform the key lock operation. . That is, since the key lock unit is provided on the fixed side, when the telescopic operation is performed to move the movable portion back and forth, the driver has to extend his arm to operate the key, which is troublesome.

Therefore, this invention was made for the purpose of improving the key lock structure in the telescopic steering column.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a movable part in which a steering wheel is rotatably pivoted from a fixed part of a steering column fixed to a vehicle body in a desired longitudinal direction of a driver. In a telescopic steering column capable of advancing and retreating to, a telescopic steering column provided with a key lock unit in the movable portion, and the movable portion,
A telescopic steering column having a non-circular cross section is formed by fitting the fixing portion with an irregular cross section.

[Operation] According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, since the key lock unit is integrated with the movable portion, the key lock unit is always positioned at a constant distance from the steering wheel even when the telescopic operation is performed, and the key lock unit is also provided. When the steering shaft is rotated without locking, the movable part and the fixed part are fitted with a non-circular modified cross section, and therefore cannot rotate.

[Embodiment] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First
A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. An upper jacket 4 is supported via a bracket 3 on an upper clamp 2 that is a fixed portion that is fixed to a vehicle body 1 such as an instrument panel. A telescoping sleeve 6 is coaxially fitted to the inner circumference of the upper end of the upper jacket 4 via a spacer 5 so as to be axially movable, and an upper shaft 7 is coaxially axially fitted to the telescoping sleeve 6 via bearings 8 and 9. It is fitted so that it can rotate. A recess 10 is formed in the upper jacket 4 so as to be in sliding contact with the telescopic sleeve 6, and a long hole 11 having a predetermined length in the axial direction is formed in the telescopic sleeve 6, and a stopper 12 that engages with the long hole 11 is provided in the upper jacket 4. 4 is projected. Furthermore, the telescopic sleeve 6 is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3,
A triangular oval cross-section 13 that is opposed to the long hole 11 in the diametrical direction is a substantially oval cross-section formed in a predetermined length,
An aviator 14 which is similar to this and fits in the upper jacket 4 having an oval cross section, and which is in contact with the end of the upper jacket 4, a key lock hole 15 in the vicinity of the aviator 14, and a vicinity of the key lock hole 15 Is provided with a key lock unit 16. On the other hand, the lower jacket 18 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the upper jacket 4 via the pressure contact projections 19 and 19.
As shown in FIG. 4, a lower clamp 20 which is fixed to the vehicle body is connected to the lower end of 8. Further, the upper shaft 7 is formed by connecting two tubes in the axial direction, a steering wheel 21 is axially attached to one upper end portion thereof, and a spline 22 is engraved on the inner peripheral surface of the other. A lower shaft 24 having a spline 23 engaging with the spline 22 formed on the outer peripheral surface of one end is coaxially fitted to the upper shaft 7 in the axial direction. Lower shaft 24
Around the lower end portion thereof is rotatably supported via a bearing 27 fixed to a joint cover 25 connected to the lower jacket 18, and a universal joint 28 is connected to the lower end portion. The universal joint 28 is connected to an intermediate shaft (not shown), and the intermediate shaft is connected to the steering gear box.

The bracket 3 has a front plate portion 3a which is pierced through the upper jacket 4 and connected and fixed by welding or the like, and a rounded portion 3b which is continuously bent forward in a semicircular shape on both sides of the front plate portion 3a. Side portions 3c and 3c that are in continuous sliding contact with the inner surface of the upper clamp 2 in the rounded portions 3b and 3b, and cut portions 3d and 3d formed at the boundary between the rounded portions 3b and 3c.
Is a plane U-shaped body forming and, and both side portions 3c, 3c
Holes 3e are formed in each of them. On the other hand, elongated holes 30 that overlap with the holes 3e are formed in both side wall portions of the upper clamp 2. Then, a tightening bolt 32 is provided through the reinforcing body 31 that connects the side portions 3c, 3c of the bracket 3 having the hole 3e, and as shown in FIG.
At both ends of the tightening bolt 32, an operation lever rotation restriction block 33 and a tightening bolt rotation restriction block 34 that engage with the elongated hole 30 are fitted, and a nut 36 integrally connected to the operation lever 35 is provided at one end. Is screwed on. The operation lever 35 is formed with an arc-shaped rotation restriction hole 37 that allows only rotation within a predetermined rotation angle.
A protrusion 38 that abuts 37 is formed on the rotation restriction block 33. The operation lever 35 is formed with an arc portion having a constant radius centered on the nut 36, and a tooth portion 39 is formed on the arc portion. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 5, a telescopic operation bracket in which a gear 41 having an outer peripheral tooth portion 40 that meshes with the tooth portion 39 is fixed to the upper jacket 4 adjacent to the upper clamp 2. 42 is fixed to one end of a tightening bolt 43 protruding laterally from 42, and the other end of the tightening bolt 43 has a pair of tightening blocks.
Screw 44,44 together. The tightening blocks 44, 44 are each made of a rectangular parallelepiped having a trapezoidal cross section, and are arranged in a roof-shaped inclined portion 45 formed on the telescopic operation bracket 42 by abutting and facing their upper and lower parts, and a tightening bolt 43 is screwed. Each of the screw holes 46 and 47 is formed by winding a screw thread symmetrically. The tightening blocks 44, 44 are in sliding contact with the deformed cross-section 13 of the telescopic sleeve 6, respectively. In addition, the telescopic operation bracket 42 is formed with left and right ears 48, 48 which can come into contact with the front portion of the upper clamp 2 (third and fourth).
See figure).

To explain the operation of the above embodiment, when performing a telescoping operation and a tilting operation, in the state shown in FIG. 1, the operation lever 35 is pushed downward and rotated to release the tightening force of the tightening bolt 32. That is, when the operation lever 35 is rotated, the tightening bolt 32 releases the force for tightening the upper clamp 2 to the reinforcing body 31 of the bracket 3, and the tightening bolt 43 is rotated through the tooth portion 39 and the gear 41 to tighten. The blocks 44, 44 slide outwardly in the direction away from each other along the roof-shaped sloped portion 45 and the profiled cross-section portion 13, respectively, so that the force of pressing the telescopic sleeve 6 against the upper jacket 4 is released. Therefore, when the steering wheel 21 is pushed or pulled in any desired direction in front of or behind the driver, the telescopic sleeve 6 can be moved back and forth from the upper jacket 4 within a stroke in which the end of the elongated hole 11 contacts the stopper 12. . Further, when the telescopic sleeve 6 is rotated in the desired direction up and down in that state, the tightening bolt 32 is guided by the elongated hole 30, and the reinforcing body 31, the bracket 3 and the telescopic sleeve 6 are integrated to form the lower clamp 20. Since the center C is driven within the range of the lines P and Q, the tilt can be set. Therefore, when the telescopic and tilt settings are completed, the operating lever 35 is rotated back to the original state, and the tightening bolt 32 causes the upper clamp 2 to move.
While tightening to the reinforcing body 31, the tightening bolt 43 is rotated via the tooth portion 39 and the gear 41 to bring the tightening blocks 44, 44 close to each other along the roof-shaped inclined portion 45 and the modified cross-section portion 13,
The tightening blocks 44 and 44 press the deformed cross-section 13 of the telescopic sleeve 6 to fix the tilted and telescopic state. Since the key lock hole 15 is formed in the telescopic sleeve 6, it moves integrally with the telescopic sleeve 6 in the axial front-rear direction, and is always at a constant distance from the steering wheel 21. If the key lock is once operated, it will be overlooked and the steering wheel 21 will be forced to rotate, or if the steering wheel 21 is stolen and forced to rotate, the telescopic sleeve 6 The flat side wall of the upper jacket 4 abuts on the flat side wall of the upper jacket 4, the deformed cross-section 13 slides into the tightening blocks 44, 44, and the tightening blocks 44, 44 are the roof-shaped inclined parts of the telescopic operation bracket 42. Since it is in sliding contact with the 45, the rotation of the telescopic sleeve 6 in the circumferential direction is blocked and the steering wheel 21 cannot be rotated.

In the above embodiment, the gear 41 having the teeth 39 formed on the operating lever 35 and the outer teeth 40 meshing with the teeth 39 is used for the turning operation of the tightening bolt 43. An independent operation lever may be attached to 43 so that it can be operated independently.

In the above embodiment, in the case of a secondary collision at the time of a vehicle collision accident, when the weight of the driver is applied to the upper shaft 7 and the telescopic sleeve 6 through the steering wheel 21, the bracket 3 connecting the telescopic sleeve 6 is The rounded portions 3b, 3b are caught in the upper jacket 4 side to absorb the energy while being deformed, and the cut portions 3c, 3 are absorbed by the energy which is not absorbed only by the deformation amount.
The c tears and absorbs the impact energy, and accordingly, the upper jacket 4 moves into the lower jacket 18 while sliding on the press contact projections 19, 19 to which a predetermined press fitting load is applied.

[Advantages of the Invention] According to the invention described above, in the telescopic steering column, the key lock unit is provided at the movable portion that can be moved back and forth, so that the key lock unit is always arranged at a constant distance from the steering wheel. Since the position of the key does not change back and forth even when the telescopic operation is performed, the troublesome operation of the key lock is eliminated. Also, even if the key lock is overlooked, or if it is stolen and the steering wheel is forcibly rotated, the movable part is fitted to the fixed part with an irregular cross section, so that it does not rotate. Safe because you can't
And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a half sectional side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a plan view with a part omitted, and FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view. 2 …… upper clamp, 3 …… bracket, 4 …… upper jacket, 5 …… spacer, 6 …… telescopic sleeve, 7 …… upper shaft, 8,9 …… bearing, 11 …… long hole, 12 …… Stopper, 13 ...... irregular cross section, 15 ...... key lock hole, 16 ...... key lock unit,
18 …… Lower jacket, 19 …… Pressure contact protrusion, 20 …… Lower clamp, 30 …… Long hole, 31 …… Reinforcement body, 32,43 ……
Tightening bolt, 35 …… Operating lever, 39,40 …… Tooth, 41
...... Gear, 42 …… Telescopic operation bracket, 44 …… Tightening block, 45 …… Roof-shaped inclined part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-155869 (JP, A) Actually open 63-197775 (JP, U) Actually open 63-96974 (JP, U) Actually open 1- 131679 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A telescopic steering column in which a movable portion having a steering wheel rotatably attached is movable in a desired direction in the front-back direction of a driver from a fixed portion of a steering column fixed to a vehicle body, and a key lock is provided to the movable portion. Telescopic steering column with a unit. 2. The telescopic steering column according to claim 1, wherein the movable portion is formed into a non-circular cross section by being fitted to the fixed portion with an irregular cross section.