JPH08295248A - Steering system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To adjust a distance lying between a steering wheel and a driver by attaching a steering column to a slider to be equipped with a position adjusting means, supporting a steering shaft rotatably on this steering column, and attaching the steering wheel to this steering shaft. CONSTITUTION: A pair of cylindrical guide rails 3 are attached to the side of a car body via a base 2, supporting a slider 5 shiftably on each of the guide rails 3. Then, a steering column 6 is attached to the slider 6 and, in turn, a steering shaft 7 is rotatably supported on this steering column 6. In addition, a steering wheel 8 is attached to the steering shaft 7, thereby adjusting a position of the slider 5 shifting together with a screw shaft 17 being meshed with a nut being rotated and driven with a motor 15 by means of a position adjusting mechanism 11. With this constitution, a distance between the steering wheel 8 and a driver is adjustable large enough.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering device capable of adjusting a distance and a tilt angle of a steering wheel from a driver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A steering column mounted on a vehicle body and a steering shaft rotatably supported by the steering column are mounted with a steering wheel, and the steering wheel has a distance from a driver and a tilt angle. An adjustable steering device has been conventionally used (see JP-A-61-67663).

[0003]

In the conventional steering device, in order to adjust the distance of the steering wheel from the driver, the steering shaft is divided into two, and one of the two divided parts is axially moved to the other through serration. It is inserted as much as possible, and the amount of protrusion of the steering shaft from the steering column is changed by its axial movement. However, when the amount of protrusion of the steering shaft from the steering column becomes large, the steering shaft is easily bent. Therefore, the axial movement distance is limited, and the distance between the steering wheel and the driver may not be adjusted sufficiently large.

Further, in the conventional steering apparatus, in order to adjust the tilt angle of the steering wheel, the steering shaft and the steering column are attached to the vehicle body side through the tilt angle adjusting means. for that reason,
Even if the distance between the steering wheel and the driver is adjusted by changing the protrusion amount of the steering shaft from the steering column, the distance between the tilt angle adjusting means and the driver cannot be adjusted. The operability of the tilt angle adjusting means may be deteriorated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a power steering device that can solve the above problems.

[0006]

A steering device according to the present invention includes a guide member mounted on the vehicle body side, a slider movably supported by the guide member, a position adjusting means for the slider, and a slider mounted on the slider. And a steering shaft rotatably supported by the steering column,
A steering wheel is attached to the steering shaft. The position adjusting means is
For example, the actuator may be configured to drive the slider with respect to the vehicle body along the guide member.

It is preferable that the steering column is attached to the slider via a steering wheel tilt angle adjusting means, and the tilt angle adjusting means is movable along with the slider. The tilt angle adjusting means can be configured, for example, by including a swinging member mounted on the slider so as to be swingable about the axis and positionally adjustable, and the steering column being integrated with the swinging member.

[0008]

According to the present invention, since the steering column and the steering shaft move in accordance with the movement of the slider, the amount of protrusion of the steering shaft from the steering column does not change, and the steering wheel from the driver does not change. You can adjust the distance.
As a result, the distance between the steering wheel and the driver can be adjusted sufficiently large.

Further, the steering column is attached to the slider through the adjusting means for adjusting the inclination angle of the steering wheel, and the adjusting means for adjusting the inclination angle is movable together with the slider, so that the slider can be moved. At the same time as adjusting the distance between the steering wheel and the driver, the distance between the driver for adjusting the tilt angle and the driver can be adjusted. As a result, it is possible to prevent the operability of the tilt angle adjusting means from being degraded.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The steering system 1 shown in FIGS.
A pair of cylindrical guide rails (guide members) 3 attached to the vehicle body side via a base 2 are provided. The base 2 is attached to the vehicle body by bolts (not shown). Each guide rail 3 is fixed to the base 2 by fixing tools 4 attached to both ends of the guide rail 3 via bolts.

A slider 5 is movably supported by both guide rails 3, a steering column 6 is attached to the slider 5, and a steering wheel 8 is attached to a steering shaft 7 rotatably supported by the steering column 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the slider 5 has a pair of through holes 5a spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction of the vehicle body,
Each guide rail 3 is inserted into each through hole 5a through a plurality of bushes 5b so as to be relatively movable. Further, the slider 5 has a pair of notches 5c communicating from the outside to the respective through holes 5a, and a plurality of bolts 5d with an adhesive material crossing the notches 5c are screwed. By adjusting the screwing amount of each bolt 5d, each guide rail 3 and each bush 5b
Since the gap between the slider 5 and the gap between each bush 5b and each through hole 5a can be adjusted, rattling of the slider 5 can be eliminated.

A position adjusting mechanism 11 for the slider 5 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the position adjusting mechanism 11 includes a motor bracket 14 attached to the base 2 between the guide rails 3 via a plurality of arms 12 and 13, and a reduction mechanism attached to the motor bracket 14. It has a DC motor 15, a nut (not shown) that is driven to rotate by the motor 15, and a screw shaft 17 that meshes with the nut. As shown in FIG. 2, the screw shaft 17 is connected to the slider 5 by a bolt 18. The rotation of the motor 15 causes the screw shaft 17 to move in the axial direction,
The position of the slider 5 that moves along with the screw shaft 17 is adjusted.

The steering column 6 includes two members 6
The slider 5 is formed by connecting a and 6b.
Is attached to the steering wheel 8 via a tilt angle adjusting mechanism 21. The tilt angle adjusting mechanism 21 is mounted between the guide rails 3 so as to be integrated with the slider 5, and is attached to the support member 22 so as to be swingable around a bolt / rotating shaft 23 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. The swinging member 24 is provided and is movable together with the slider 5. The swinging member 24 has a pair of side walls 24a facing both left and right sides of the support member 22, and a connecting wall 24b connecting the both side walls 24a and extending along the outer periphery of the steering column 6. The connecting wall 24b is integrated with the outer periphery of the steering column 6 by welding or the like.

The supporting member 22 is, as shown in FIG.
It has side walls 22a that are separated from each other on the left and right sides of the vehicle body, and a shaft 25 is rotatably supported by the side walls 22a, and an operating lever 30 is integrated with one end of the shaft 25. Both side walls 22a of the support member 22 are attached to the swing member 2
4 between the two side walls 24a, as shown in FIG.
The shaft 25 is inserted into long holes 24a 'formed in both side walls 24a of the swing member 24. The long hole 24
The longitudinal direction of a'is along an arc centered on the rotary shaft 23 of the swing member 24. Further, the shaft 25 has a plurality of washers 2 that sandwich the side walls 22a and 24a.
6, and mesh-shaped irregularities are formed on the surface of each washer 26 facing the side walls 22a, 24a. A spacer 27 that covers the shaft 25 is disposed between both side walls 22 a of the support member 22. On both ends of the shaft 25, male threads 25a, 25b whose thread winding directions are opposite to each other are formed, and nuts 27a, 27b are screwed on the male threads 25a, 25b, respectively. It is a screw. Each nut 27
Collar 28 is integrated with a and 27b by welding or the like, and as shown in FIG. 1, the outer circumference of each collar 28 is non-circular,
Detents 2 integrated with each side wall 24a of the rocking member 24
Contact 9 A compression coil spring 31 is attached to the support member 22 and the steering column 6, and exerts an elastic force so that the swing member 24 swings in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

The operating lever 30 causes the shaft 25 to move.
When the nut is rotated in one direction, the nuts 27a and 27b come close to each other and sandwich the side walls 24a and 24b of the swing member 24 with the spacer 27, so that the swing member 24 is prevented from swinging with respect to the support member 22. be able to. When the shaft 25 is rotated in the other direction by the operation lever 30, both nuts 27a and 27b are separated from each other, so that the rocking member 24 is allowed to rock with respect to the support member 22, and the tilt angle of the steering wheel 8 is adjusted. be able to.

A restricting member 32 for restricting the rotation of the shaft 25 in the other direction by the operating lever 30 by contacting the operating lever 30 as shown by a phantom line in FIG.
Is attached to the base 2 via a bracket 33 as shown in FIGS. By restricting the swing range of the operating lever 30 by the restricting member 32, the interference between the cover panel 34 in the driver's cab and the operating lever 30 shown by a virtual line in FIG. 1 is prevented.

As shown in FIG. 1, the steering shaft 7 is mounted on the steering column 6 with bearings 40, 4.
1 is rotatably supported, a steering wheel 8 is connected to one end, and a cylindrical joint piece 4 is connected to the other end.
Two are connected. A pulley 43 is attached to a shaft (not shown) connected to the joint piece 42 as shown by a virtual line in FIG. 3, and the rotation of the steering wheel 8 is steered via a cable 44 wound around the pulley 43. Transmitted to the wheels. A timing pulley 45 is attached to the outer periphery of the joint piece 42, and a timing pulley 48 is attached to the input shaft of a potentiometer 47 attached via a bracket 46 to the outer periphery of the steering column 6 as shown in FIG. A timing belt 49 is wound around the pulleys 45 and 48. This enables the potentiometer 47 to output a signal according to the steering angle of the steering wheel 8, and the signal is used for controlling the vehicle according to the steering angle.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of normally closed limit switches 50 and 51 are attached to the base 2, and a dog 52 is attached to the slider 5 between the limit switches 50 and 51. The dog 52 turns off one extension end detection limit switch 50 when the steering wheel 8 is closest to the driver, and turns off the other reduction end detection limit switch 51 when the steering wheel 8 is farthest from the driver. Turn off. Further, a normally open extension operation switch and a reduction operation switch, which will be described later, are attached to a bracket 53 attached to the outer periphery of the steering column 6 as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. Further, a normally closed lever detection limit switch 54 is attached to the base 2 as shown by a phantom line in FIG.
Is turned off by the operation lever 30 in a state where the swing member 24 is allowed to swing with respect to the support member 22.

FIG. 6 shows a drive circuit diagram of the motor 15, which includes the motor 15, the extension end detection limit switch 50, the extension operation switch 55, the lever detection limit switch 54, and the DC power supply 56. A forward rotation drive circuit is configured, and the motor 15, the reduction end detection limit switch 51, the reduction operation switch 57, the lever detection limit switch 54, and the DC power supply 56 configure a reverse rotation drive circuit. As a result, when the extension operation switch 55 is turned on, the steering wheel 8 approaches the driver due to the axial movement of the screw shaft 17 due to the forward rotation of the motor 15, and the extension end detection limit switch 50 is turned off when the steering wheel 8 comes closest to the driver. 15 stops. Further, when the reduction operation switch 57 is turned on, the steering wheel 8 separates from the driver due to the axial movement of the screw shaft 17 due to the reverse rotation of the motor 15, and at the farthest position, the reduction end detection limit switch 51 is turned off and the motor 15 turns off. Stop. Further, during adjustment of the tilt angle of the steering wheel 8, the lever detection limit switch 54 is turned off by the operation lever 30,
The motor 15 is never driven.

According to the above construction, the screw shaft 1
Since the slider 5 and the steering column 6 move with the movement of 7, the distance of the steering wheel 8 from the driver can be adjusted without changing the amount of protrusion of the steering shaft 7 from the steering column 6.
As a result, the distance between the steering wheel 8 and the driver can be adjusted sufficiently large. For example, the amount of adjustment was about 50 mm in the past, but 100 mm
The above can be done. Further, the slider 5 and the tilt angle adjusting mechanism 21 of the steering wheel 8 move together, so that the slider 5 is moved to adjust the distance between the steering wheel 8 and the driver, and at the same time, the tilt angle adjusting mechanism. You can also adjust the distance between 21 and the driver. This can prevent the operability of the tilt angle adjusting mechanism 21 from being degraded.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and only different points will be described.

First, in the tilt angle adjusting mechanism 21 of the steering wheel 8, the shaft 25 of the first embodiment is rotatably and immovably supported by both side walls 22a of the supporting member 22 and both sides of the swinging member 24. It is inserted into an elongated hole 24a 'formed in the wall 24a. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the shaft 25 of the second embodiment is rotatably and immovably supported by both side walls 24a of the swing member 24 and is formed on both side walls 22a of the support member 22. It is inserted into the formed long hole 22a '. The longitudinal direction of the long hole 24a 'is the rotation shaft 23 of the swing member 24.
It is supposed to follow an arc centered at. As a result, when the swing member 24 is swung with respect to the support member 22 and the tilt angle of the steering wheel 8 is adjusted, the position of the shaft 25 remains unchanged in the first embodiment.
In the second embodiment, the shaft 25 is displaced together with the swing member 24. Therefore, the relative position of the operation lever 30 with respect to the steering wheel 8 can be made constant regardless of the inclination angle of the steering wheel 8, and the operability can be improved.

The rotation of the shaft 25 in the other direction by the operating lever 30 prevents the cover panel 34 and the operating lever 30 from rotating.
In the first embodiment, the restricting member 32, which restricts a certain range so as to prevent interference with the steering wheel, is attached to the base 2 via the bracket 33, whereas in the second embodiment, the steering wheel of the operating lever 30. Since the relative position with respect to 8 is constant, it is attached to the rocking member 24.

Further, in the second embodiment, when the distance between the steering wheel 8 and the driver becomes large, the operation lever 30 is prevented from swinging so that the tilt angle of the steering wheel 8 cannot be adjusted. A lock mechanism is provided to prevent interference with the cover panel 34 and the driver's knee. That is, the lock mechanism has the blocking member 62 fixed to the base 2 and the contact portion 63 attached to the operation lever 30. The blocking member 62
When the distance between the steering wheel 8 and the driver becomes larger than a preset distance, the contact with the contact portion 63 prevents the operation lever 30 from swinging. Others are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the guide member is not limited to the cylindrical guide rail 3, and the structure is not limited as long as the slider can be supported so as to be movable in the distance adjusting direction between the steering wheel and the driver. Further, the position adjusting means of the slider is not limited to the one using the motor 15, and a fluid pressure actuator may be used, for example. Also, the structure for adjusting the tilt angle of the steering wheel is not particularly limited as long as it can adjust the tilt angle of the steering wheel 8 and can move along with the slider.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a steering device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the steering device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the steering device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a slider of the steering device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part of a tilt angle adjusting mechanism of the steering device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a drive circuit diagram of the position adjusting mechanism of the steering device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the steering device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a steering device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a steering device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an essential part of a tilt angle adjusting mechanism of a steering device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Guide rail 5 Slider 6 Steering column 7 Steering shaft 8 Steering wheel 11 Position adjustment mechanism 21 Tilt angle adjustment mechanism

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shuzo Hirushigo 3-5-8 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. Ihatu Industrial Co., Ltd. Shiga Technical Center

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A guide member attached to a vehicle body,
A slider movably supported by the guide member,
A steering device having a slider position adjusting means, a steering column attached to the slider, and a steering shaft rotatably supported by the steering column, and a steering wheel attached to the steering shaft. 2. The steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the steering column is attached to a slider via a steering wheel tilt angle adjusting means, and the tilt angle adjusting means is movable along with the slider.