JPH08284969A - Shaft coupling and steering column assembly using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the stress concentration of a connection part by arranging cylindrical bodies enclosed by a rubber elastic body connected to either of a driving shaft or a driven shaft concentrically with equal intervals, connecting it by a synthetic resin disk body, and arranging cylindrical projections connected to the other shaft concentrically with equal intervals on the disk body in an alternate manner to the cylindrical bodies. CONSTITUTION: A cylindrical body 1 is connected to a driving shaft, and a cylindrical body 2 is connected to a driven shaft, and two bodies of each kind are generally provided, and correspond to a yoke extending from each shaft, and alternately and concentrically arranged. A rubber elastic body 3 encloses the whole circumference of the cylindrical body 1 to be served for absorbing the vibration during the rotation and for buffering the rapid load, and also reduces the noise. In a synthetic resin disk body 4, the rubber elastic body 3 is arranged at the prescribed position, and the cylindrical body 2 is integrated with the synthetic resin disk body 4. The synthetic resin directly transfer the rotational torque, and the torque is transferred to the driven shaft by the resistance of the synthetic resin against the tensile and compressive forces between the cylindrical bodies 1, 2. Because no coupling part is present, the disadvantage of entering water or oil is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shaft coupling used for a propulsion shaft or the like for connecting one shaft and the other shaft to transmit a rotational force. For example, the drive force of an engine is transmitted. It is used for the steering column assembly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows an example of a conventional shaft coupling used to connect a propeller shaft, for example.
There is a division type as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.
In the figure, 21 (21 ₁ , 21 ₂ , 21 ₃ , ...)
Is a shaft joint base, and generally six bases are connected by a connecting pin 22 to form a shaft joint. In this shaft joint, a tensile member 23, for example, an organic fiber bundle is wound between the two pins 22 and 22 so as to withstand the tension generated between the connecting pins 22 and 22 mounted in one base 21. Then, the whole is covered with the elastic rubber 24 to maintain elasticity.

9 and 10 show D in FIG.
The sectional view in the -D line and the EE line is shown, and shaft coupling base 21
Is generally fitted with a collar 26 with a flange 25 into which a pipe 27 is press fitted. The fiber cord 23 is wound inside the color 26 while keeping the color 26 and the pipe 27 in this state at a predetermined distance, and the whole is wrapped with an elastic rubber 24 and integrated. is there. In the figure, six such substrates 21 (21
₁ , 21 ₂ , 21 ₃ , ...) are used to press-fit the connecting pin 21 into the pipe 27 to complete the shaft coupling.

However, in this type of shaft coupling,
Since the fiber cord 23 is wound in many layers, the cord tension varies among the layers, and the adhesiveness between the cords 23 and 23 and between the cord 23 and the elastic rubber 24 is not uniform. There is. This naturally means that there is a variation in the characteristics between the substrates, and these factors also cause variations in the heat shrinkage rate of the cord due to the action of heat in the rubber vulcanization process and the surface of the elastic rubber. It is supposed to have a great influence on the production and the performance such as the protrusion of the cord to the.

In order to solve these drawbacks, the present applicant has proposed a shaft coupling using a synthetic resin board as a machine body. That is, in the proposed shaft coupling, the plurality of cylinders 1 connected to the drive-side shaft are arranged on a concentric circle at substantially equal distances, and the plurality of cylinders 2 connected to the driven-side shaft are arranged on the concentric circle. And are arranged alternately with the cylindrical bodies 1 and surround each of the cylindrical bodies 1 and 2 with a rubber elastic body, and a space between the adjacent rubber elastic bodies is made of a synthetic resin board. It is a connection.

Such a shaft joint has a base body made of a single synthetic resin, and has improved strength as a shaft joint.
It aims to reduce the cost and weight of the shaft coupling, as well as simplifying the manufacturing, while reducing the variation in performance.

[0007]

As described above, the proposed shaft coupling has great merits and is technically excellent, but on the other hand, the cylindrical body and the synthetic resin disc body are required. It has been pointed out that stress is likely to be concentrated on the joint portion with and there is a possibility of damage from this portion, and that water and oil enter the joint portion and cause rattling. As a result of earnest studies for solving the above problems, the present invention has found a solution by adopting the following configuration.

[0008]

That is, the shaft joint of the present invention is a disc-shaped shaft joint mounted between a drive-side shaft end and a driven-side shaft end to transmit power. Alternatively, a plurality of cylindrical bodies 1 surrounded by a rubber elastic body connected to the driven side shaft are arranged on a concentric circle at equal distances, and these are connected by a synthetic resin board, and at the same time, the synthetic resin board is joined. According to a shaft coupling, wherein a plurality of cylindrical protrusions connected to a driven side or a driving side shaft are provided on a concentric circle at equal distances and arranged so as to be alternately arranged with the cylindrical body 1. It is a thing. And, preferably, the plurality of cylindrical projections are formed integrally with the synthetic resin board.

The steering assembly of the present invention uses this shaft coupling, and the driving side or driven side shaft of the shaft coupling is provided in a plurality of tubular shapes provided on a synthetic resin board. When connecting via the protrusions, the pins inserted between the protrusion cylinders are connected by caulking.

As the synthetic resin used in the present invention, what is called an engineering plastic is mainly adopted, and among them, a polyamide resin is generally used. Needless to say, a composite system in which fibers such as glass and carbon are mixed with the plastic to improve the strength may be used.

[0011]

In the present invention, since the construction as described above is adopted, the synthetic resin directly transmits the rotational torque instead of the fiber cord, and the synthetic resin resists the tensile force between the cylinders 1 and 2. Alternatively, the torque is transmitted to the driven shaft by resisting the compressive force between the cylinders 2 and 1.

Since the cylindrical body 2 (protrusion) is formed integrally with the synthetic resin board, there is no disadvantage that there is no joint here and water or oil enters. Since the synthetic resin is likely to be creep-deformed, if the bolts are connected, the synthetic resin may be loosened due to creep deformation or the like, and the connection may be lost. Therefore, in the steering assembly which uses the shaft coupling of the present invention, it is preferable to make up for this defect by crimping the pin.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The shaft coupling and steering column assembly of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a shaft coupling of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a cylinder connected to the drive-side shaft, and 2 is a cylinder connected to the driven-side shaft. Each of the cylindrical body 1 and the cylindrical body 2 is generally provided with two pieces corresponding to a yoke (not shown) extending from each axis, and these are arranged alternately.

In the shaft coupling shown here, the cylindrical body 1 and the cylindrical body 2 are all arranged concentrically. Reference numeral 3 is a rubber elastic body that surrounds the entire circumference of the cylindrical body 1 and serves to absorb vibrations during use in rotation, to buffer sudden loads, and to reduce noise. . Reference numeral 4 is a synthetic resin disc body in which these rubber elastic bodies 3 surrounding the cylindrical body 1 are arranged at predetermined positions, and here, a disc-shaped nylon resin having a thickness of 30 mm and an outer diameter of 150 mm is used. The cylinder body 2 is formed integrally with the nylon resin board body 4.

The synthetic resin board 4 has a function of setting the cylinders 1 and 2 at predetermined positions, and is connected to the shaft on the driving side and the shaft on the driven side when being used in rotation. It has a function of transmitting a tensile force between the connected cylindrical bodies 2, and has a function of a tensile body in a conventional shaft coupling.

In this case, first, the rubber elastic body 3 is integrated around the cylindrical body 1 by vulcanization adhesion, these are set in the position in the mold forming the disk body, and then the synthetic resin is injection-molded to form a cylinder. Although it is common to form the body 2 and integrate the respective elements, the synthetic resin board 4 and the cylinder 2 are generally used.
It is also possible to first form the above and press fit the rubber elastic body 3 including the above-mentioned cylindrical body 1 into the hole 5 provided therein. In this example, the outer circumference of the rubber elastic body 3 and the hole 5 of the synthetic resin board 4 are in contact with each other in a perfect circular shape, but the contact surfaces of the two do not necessarily have to be perfect circles. Although the cylinder body 1 side is the driving side and the cylinder body 2 side is the driven side, it goes without saying that they may be used in reverse.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a shaft coupling according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB thereof. The cylindrical body 2 is the same as the synthetic resin board 4 as in the previous example, but in the cylindrical body 1, the rubber elastic body 3 surrounding the cylindrical body 1 is provided with the currants 6 in the tangential direction of the circumference. By providing the currant 6, the torsion spring constant can be lowered.
The tubular body 1 has a bulge portion 7 formed at the center thereof in order to prevent the rubber elastic body 3 from coming out of the hole 5 of the synthetic resin board 4.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a third embodiment of the shaft coupling of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line CC. The cylinder 2 is made the same as the synthetic resin board 4 as in the previous example, but the rubber elastic body 3 surrounding the cylinder 1 on the drive shaft side is not completely surrounded by the synthetic resin board 4. In this example, the board 4 does not exist in the radial direction.

That is, in the case of the first embodiment, the relatively thin portion of the synthetic resin board 4 also exists in this portion, but in this example, the thin portion is removed. Therefore, there is no possibility that the synthetic resin board 4 will be cracked at this portion, and the durability of the synthetic resin board 4 will be improved. The feature of such a shaft joint is particularly effective when a twisting force is generated in the shaft joint. Further, it is possible to increase the rubber volume in a limited space to obtain a sufficiently soft spring characteristic, which is a great feature.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the steering column assembly showing the second embodiment of the present invention. That is, as the shaft coupling used, the one shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is adopted, and an example in which a driving side shaft and a driven side shaft are mounted on the shaft coupling is the same as in FIG.
A cross section taken along line A is shown. In the drawing, 11 is a drive side shaft, 12 is a driven side shaft, and yokes 13 and 14 are provided at right angles to the shafts 11 and 12, respectively, and are provided with holes corresponding to the cylinder body 1 and the cylinder body 2. 15 and 16 are provided. Now, the bolt 17 is inserted so as to correspond to the cylindrical body 1 and the hole 15 of the yoke 13, and the nut 18 is tightened with this. On the other hand, a pin 19 is inserted into the hole 16 of the cylindrical body 2 and the yoke 14, and the tip of the pin 19 is caulked (20) to connect them. As described above, when the cylindrical body 2 is made of synthetic resin, it is preferable to connect the bolts 17 and the nuts 18 without screwing them together to prevent the cylindrical body 2 from creeping.

[0021]

According to the present invention, the synthetic resin board receives the tension (or compression) applied between the cylinders, which is formed by winding a conventional fiber cord many times. Since it is a single material rather than a stretcher, it can achieve higher precision, and because it is a resin material compared to rubber, it has strength against contact with flying objects, etc. It is possible to select a strong material and improve durability. The shaft joint of the present invention is preferable when the rigidity against rotational torque is relatively high and the rigidity in other directions is low. For example, a joint between a drive side yoke and a propeller shaft or a propeller shaft and a differential side for an automobile. It can be said that it is particularly suitable for.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a first embodiment of a shaft coupling of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft coupling of FIG. 1 taken along the line AA.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a second embodiment of the shaft coupling of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft coupling of FIG. 3 taken along the line BB.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a third embodiment of the shaft coupling of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft coupling of FIG. 5 taken along the line C-C.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a steering column assembly using the shaft coupling (first embodiment) of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a conventional shaft coupling.

9 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Cylindrical body connected to the driving side shaft, 2 ... Cylindrical body (projection) connected to the driven side shaft, 3 ... Rubber elastic body surrounding the entire circumference of the cylindrical body 1, 4 ... Synthetic resin disc body, 5 ... Holes formed in the synthetic resin disc body, 6 ... Currants, 7 ... Swelling portion of the cylinder body 1, 11 ... Driving side shaft, 12 ... Driven side shaft, 13, 14 ... Yoke, 15, 16 ... Hole provided in the yoke, 17 ... Bolt, 18 ... Nut, 19 ... Pin, 20 ... Caulking section.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A disc-shaped shaft coupling mounted between a drive-side shaft end and a driven-side shaft end for transmitting power, the rubber elastic body being connected to the drive-side or driven-side shaft. A plurality of cylinders 1 surrounded by are arranged on a concentric circle at equal distances, and these are connected by a synthetic resin board and a plurality of shafts on the driven side or the driving side are connected to the synthetic resin board. 2. A shaft coupling, characterized in that the cylindrical projections of 1 are equidistantly arranged on a concentric circle and arranged so as to be alternately arranged with the cylindrical body 1. 2. A steering column assembly using the shaft joint according to claim 1, wherein the shaft on the drive side or the driven side of the shaft joint is a plurality of tubular shapes provided on a synthetic resin board. A steering column assembly characterized in that, when being connected via a protrusion, the pin is inserted into the protrusion cylinder and the ends of the pin are caulked.