JPH0858606A - Tilt adjusting device for steering column equipped with tilt mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve operability of tilt adjustment by respectively forming screw parts having different pitches in the base and the tip part of a tightening bolt and respectively screwing the screw part on the base part in the screw hole of a distance bracket and the screw part in the tip part with the nut of a column support bracket. CONSTITUTION: When a tightening bolt 9 is turned in a tightening direction by the rotation of a tilt lever 11, a column bracket 3 in one side and a distance bracket 8 have been tightened because of a screw function based on the screw pitch of a screw part 14 in the bolt base part. On the other hand, because of a screw function based on a difference between the screw pitch of a bolt tip part and that of the base part, a nut 10 presses the side part of a column bracket 2 opposite to this to the distance bracket 8 from the outside. Since the screw pitch of the bolt tip part is set larger than that of the base part at this time, the distance bracket 8 is tightened by the column brackets 2 and 3 from both sides because of screw functions of two parts.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering device with a tilt mechanism, which supports a steering column vertically adjustable with respect to a vehicle body, and more particularly to a tilt angle adjusting device for a steering column.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a steering column supporting mechanism of a steering device with a tilt mechanism, a column support bracket (hereinafter referred to as a column bracket) fixed to the lower side of an instrument panel of a vehicle body is formed with a vertically extending elongated hole. , Insert the distance bracket fixed to the steering column between the side plates facing each other of the column bracket, insert the tightening bolt through the long hole of the column bracket into the distance bracket, and tighten the tightening bolt with the operation knob or tilt lever. The column bracket is tightened and fixed by rotating the column bracket by rotating it in the direction, and the tightening of the column bracket is released by rotating the tightening bolt in the loosening direction. And a bolt is moved up and down along the long holes of the column bracket that to perform the adjustment of the tilt angle is known (e.g. Japanese Utility Model 51-654
30 publication).

To briefly explain the above-mentioned conventional example with reference to FIG. 4, the upper surfaces of a pair of column brackets 2 and 3 having side plates 2a and 3a are fixed to a vehicle body 1 and both side plates 2a and 3a are fixed.
Long holes 5 extending vertically are formed in a. A U-shaped distance bracket 8 is fixed to the steering column 7 that rotatably supports the steering shaft 6 so as to grip the column. In this state, the steering column 7 and the distance bracket 8 are connected to the column brackets 2 and 3. It is sandwiched between the side plates 2a and 3a. The distance bracket 8 is projected from the long hole 5 of one column bracket 2 to the long hole 5 of the other column bracket 3.
The tightening bolt 9 is inserted through the side hole, and the tightening nut 4 is screwed to the tip of the tightening bolt 9 outside the side plate 3a of the other column bracket 3. Further, the tilt lever 11 is fixed to the tightening nut 4, and the head 9a of the tightening bolt 9 is engaged with the elongated hole 5 so that the head 9a is prevented from rotating. It comes into contact with the outer surface of the side plate 2a of the column bracket 2.

When the tilt lever 11 is rotated in the tightening direction, the side plates 2a and 3a of the column brackets 2 and 3 are tightened by the head 9a of the tightening bolt 9 and the tightening nut 4, and the distance bracket 8 is clamped and fixed. Then, the clamping operation by the column brackets 2 and 3 is released by the rotation operation in the loosening direction, and the tightening bolt 9 is vertically displaced along the elongated hole 5 to adjust the tilt angle.

[0005]

As described above, in the tilt adjusting device for the steering column, the tilt lever rotates the tightening nut with respect to the tightening bolt, and the screw action at that time causes the distance bracket to move from both sides thereof. Tighten and release with the column bracket. In this case, in order to securely fix the steering column, the tightening of the column bracket with the nut is strengthened, and in order to smoothly adjust the tilt position, the nut is largely loosened to loosen the column bracket and the distance bracket. Engagement must be fully disengaged. However, in the conventional structure, since there is only one screw threaded portion of the tightening bolt, in order to completely release the clamping force of the distance bracket by the column bracket, the tightening release angle of the tilt lever is fixed to the column. About 60 ° from the time position
It was necessary to make 90 °, and the driver's lever operation had to be a large swing, which was a problem from the operability.

Further, when the operation angle of the tilt lever becomes large, the amount of displacement of the tilt lever increases accordingly, and the risk of collision between the lever and a human body at the time of a vehicle collision increases. Therefore, it is desirable that the operation angle of the tilt lever is small in view of the operability of the tilt lever, the space of the driver's seat, and the avoidance of the collision between the tilt lever and the human body at the time of a vehicle collision. It was difficult to deal with.

The present invention makes it possible to smoothly adjust the tilt position with a small operation angle of the tilt lever to improve the operability and reduce the risk of collision between the tilt lever and a human body during a vehicle collision. It is to provide a tilt adjustment device for a steering column with a steering wheel.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a distance bracket having a steering column fixed thereto is sandwiched between a pair of side plates of a column support bracket fixed to a vehicle body, and a tightening bolt is provided in the side plate. In the tilt adjusting device of the steering column, the tilt bracket adjusting device is capable of changing the mounting angle of the steering column by changing the position of the tightening bolt with respect to the elongated hole from the side hole of the distance bracket. One is a screw hole, a nut is arranged on the outer side of the side plate of the column support bracket on the opposite side so as to be movable and non-rotatable along the elongated hole, and the nut of the distance bracket is attached to the base of the tightening bolt. Forming a threaded portion to be screwed into the screw hole, the root portion is formed at the tip of the bolt. Form a threaded portion in the same twisting direction with a larger thread pitch than the threaded portion and screw it into the nut, and contact the outer side of the column support bracket located on the screw hole side of the distance bracket with the head of the tightening bolt. It is the one that was made to hit.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the tightening bolt inserted from the long hole of the side plate of the column bracket on one side is screwed into the screw hole on one side of the distance bracket at the threaded portion at the root of the bolt, and the screw on the tip side of the bolt is screwed. The part is screwed with a nut arranged on the side plate of the opposite column bracket. The nut is arranged so that the side plate of the column bracket can be pressed from the outside by the screw action of the tightening bolt, and the thread pitch of the tip screw part of the tightening bolt screwed with the nut has a screw pitch of the tightening bolt. Since it is larger than the thread pitch of the root part, the bolt head pushes the column bracket on one side by the screw action of the bolt root part by the rotation of the tightening bolt in the tightening direction, and the nut has two positions. Tighten the distance bracket by pushing the other column bracket by the difference in the screw pitch of the screw engaging part. When the tightening bolt is rotated in the loosening direction, the pressing of the column bracket is independently released by the two screw portions of the bolt root portion and the tip portion. After all, the amount of movement of the entire column bracket with respect to the operation angle of the tilt lever is approximately twice as large as that of the conventional structure in which the screw action is performed on only one side, and the tilt position adjustment can be performed quickly and smoothly with a small lever operation angle. It will be possible. Since the operation angle of the tilt lever is small, it is possible to prevent the tilt lever from interfering with driving.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a supporting state of a steering column to which the present invention is applied. Column brackets 2 and 3 described later are fixed to the lower side of the instrument panel of the vehicle body 1, and a steering column 7 is sandwiched between both side plates of these column brackets 2 and 3 via a distance bracket 8. A long hole 5 extending vertically is formed in each side plate of the column brackets 2 and 3, and a tightening bolt 9 described later is inserted into the long hole 5. A tilt lever 11 is fixed to the head of the tightening bolt 9. In FIG. 1, the distance bracket 8 is partially visible through the elongated hole 5 of the column bracket 2. Reference numeral 21 is a steering wheel.
By loosening the tightening bolt 9, the fixing of the steering column 7 is released, and the tightening bolt 9 becomes movable along the long hole 5 together with the distance bracket 8 and the steering column 7, and the tilt position is adjusted in this state. It

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described in more detail. A pair of column brackets 2, which are bent in an L shape,
3 are fixed to the vehicle body 1 at upper end plates 2b and 3b, which are spaced apart from each other so as to face the side plates 2a and 3a. The side plates 2a and 3a of the column brackets 2 and 3 are formed with elongated holes 5 and 5 extending vertically so as to face each other. A distance bracket 8 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is fixed to the lower portion of the steering column 7 by welding or the like. In this state, the steering column 7 and the distance bracket 8 are attached to the side plates 2a of the column brackets 2 and 3 on both sides. It is sandwiched between 3a.

On both sides of the distance bracket 8,
The bolt holes of the tightening bolt 9 are formed in alignment with the long holes 5 and 5 of the column brackets 2 and 3, and the bolt holes on one side are screw holes 12 and the other side. The bolt hole is a through hole 13 into which the tip of the bolt can be loosely inserted.

A screw portion 14 which is screwed into a screw hole 12 on one side of the distance bracket 8 is formed at a root portion of the tightening bolt 9 that follows the head portion 9a, and a screw portion 14 at the root portion is formed at a tip portion of the bolt. Thread part 1 with a larger thread pitch than
5 is formed. A tilt lever 11 is fixed to the bolt head 9a by means such as a set screw. The screw directions of the threaded portions 14 and 15 at the base and the tip of the tightening bolt 9 are the same.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the screw at the tip of the tightening bolt 9 is attached to the outside of the side plate 2a of the column bracket 2 which is in contact with the side of the distance bracket 8 opposite to the side where the screw hole 12 is formed. A nut 10 that is screwed with the portion 15 is arranged. The nut 10 has an outer diameter that exceeds the lateral width of the long hole 5 of the column bracket 2 and thus the side plate 2a.
Is arranged so as to straddle the long hole 5 on the outside of the
A collar 17 that partially engages with is fixed to the outer portion of the nut 10. The engagement of the collar 17 with the long hole 5 prevents the nut 10 from rotating when the nut 10 is screwed into the tip screw portion 15 of the tightening bolt 9. And the collar 17 has a long hole 5
Can be displaced vertically with the nut 10 as a guide.

The tightening bolt 9 and the nut 1 having the above structure
The movement of 0 will be described. With the screw pitch of the root portion of the tightening bolt 9 as A and the screw pitch of the tip portion as B, the tightening bolt 9 is rotated by the rotation operation of the tilt lever 11 (pitch A).
The bolt 10 moves on the bolt axis C by a distance of × (rotation angle), and the nut 10 moves on the bolt axis C by a distance of (pitch B−A) × (rotation angle) in the direction opposite to the movement direction of the tightening bolt 9. .
Therefore, in this embodiment, it is 1 for the conventional lever rotation.
Compared to the movement of the nuts or bolts only at the points, the tightening force is applied or released separately on both sides of the distance bracket 8. Therefore, by increasing the difference in the screw pitch on both sides, the same lever rotation angle can be achieved. The larger column bracket can be pushed or released, and the lever operation angle can be reduced accordingly.

More specifically, the tightening bolt 9
Is rotated in the tightening direction, the threaded portion 14 at the base of the bolt
One side (bolt head side) by the screw action based on the screw pitch of
The column bracket 3 and the distance bracket 8 are fastened. On the other hand, the nut 10 presses the side portion of the column bracket 2 that is in contact with the nut 10 from the outside against the distance bracket 8 by a screw action based on the difference between the screw pitch of the bolt tip portion and the screw pitch of the root portion. Since the thread pitch at the tip of the bolt is larger than that at the root, the distance bracket 8 is eventually tightened by the column brackets 2 and 3 from both sides by the screw action at two locations. When the tightening bolt 9 is rotated in the loosening direction, the tightening bolt 9 moves in the direction in which the bolt head 9a moves away from the side portion of the column bracket 3, and the tightening of the column bracket 3 is released, and the nut 10 is opposed. The column bracket 2 is moved in a direction away from the column bracket 2 in contact with the column bracket 2 and the pressure on the column bracket 2 is released, and the tilt position can be adjusted.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the cap nut 18 is arranged on the side of the column bracket 2 located on the side opposite to the head 9a side of the tightening bolt 9. The outer end of the bag-shaped nut 18 is formed with a large-sized head 18a so as to straddle the elongated hole 5 of the column bracket 2, and is engaged with both groove side portions of the elongated hole 5 following the head 18a. A detent portion 19 that also has a vertically long guide function is formed. Further, a shaft portion 18b with a screw hole extending from the rotation stopping portion 19 through the through hole 13 of the distance bracket 8 to the tightening bolt 9 side is formed,
The tip screw portion 15 of the tightening bolt 9 is screwed into the screw hole 20 of the shaft portion 18b. Also in this embodiment, the thread pitch of the tip screw portion 15 of the tightening bolt 9 is larger than that of the screw portion 14 at the root of the bolt, and the screw direction is the same. The length of the tightening bolt 9 is shorter than that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and is such a length that it can be screwed into the bottom of the screw hole 20 of the bag-shaped nut 18 with a certain margin. Bag nut 18
The structure of the tightening bolt 9 other than the shaft portion is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and the same reference numerals are given and redundant description will be omitted as much as possible.

In FIG. 3, by rotating the tightening bolt 9 in the tightening direction, the column brackets 2 and 3 are moved to the bolt head 9a.
And the head portion 18a of the bag-shaped nut 18 is pinched and deformed, and both side portions of the distance bracket 8 are clamped and fixed. In this case as well, the bag-shaped nut 18 presses the side portion of the column bracket 2 from the outside by the screw action based on the difference between the thread pitch of the bolt tip and the thread pitch of the root, and the thread 14 of the bolt root and the distance bracket. The distance bracket 8 is tightened by two screwing operations of screwing with the screw holes of 8. When the tightening bolt 9 is rotated in the loosening direction to release the fixation of the steering column 7, the rotation stopping portion 19 of the bag-shaped nut 18 moves up and down along with the tightening bolt 9 with the elongated hole 5 as a guide. Move to
The tilt position is adjusted.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, there are two screw threaded portions, the distance bracket and the nut, for screwing the column bracket by screwing with the tightening bolts, and the screw thread portion with respect to the lever operation angle is provided. The slide amount is about twice the tightening amount due to the action and reaction of the conventional structure with one screw threaded portion, and it is possible to smoothly adjust the tilt position with a small lever operation angle. This has the effects of improving the operability of the lever and avoiding the collision between the tilt lever and the human body during a vehicle collision.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a supported state of a steering column to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a tilt adjusting device for a steering column according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional tilt adjusting device for a steering column.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vehicle Body 2, 3 Column Brackets 2a, 3a Side Plate 5 Long Hole 7 Steering Column 8 Distance Bracket 9 Tightening Bolt 10 Nut 11 Tilt Lever 12 Screw Hole 13 Through Hole 17 Color 18 Bag Nut 19 Rotation Stopper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A distance bracket to which a steering column is fixed is sandwiched between a pair of side plates of a column support bracket fixed to a vehicle body, and a tightening bolt is provided from a long hole provided in the side plate to a side hole of the distance bracket. In a tilt adjusting device for a steering column, which is capable of changing the mounting angle of the steering column by changing the position of the tightening bolt with respect to the elongated hole, one of the side holes of the distance bracket is a screw hole,
A nut is arranged on the outer side of the side plate of the column support bracket on the opposite side so as to be movable and non-rotatable along the elongated hole, and is screwed into the screw hole of the distance bracket at the base of the tightening bolt. Forming a threaded portion, and forming a threaded portion in the same twisting direction with a larger thread pitch than the threaded portion of the root portion at the tip of the bolt, and screwing the threaded portion with the nut, to the screw hole side of the distance bracket. A tilt adjusting device for a steering column with a tilt mechanism, wherein an outer portion of a positioned column support bracket is brought into contact with a head portion of the tightening bolt.