JPH0880857A - Steering column for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To minimize the idle traveling for the shift of a steering wheel forwardly from a vehicle, without carrying out the energy absorption in the secondary collision, as for a lock structure type telescopic steering column using friction. CONSTITUTION: As for a steering column for vehicle which is constituted so that a nut fixed on an operating lever is screwed with a tightening bolt which penetrates through a slot hole for telescope action for an upper bracket 15 and a bracket 25 for fixing a jacket which is nipping-held on the upper bracket 1, and the telescope setting position is locked by tightening the upper bracket on a jacket holder 22 and a bracket 25 for fixing the jacket by turning the operating lever, a tooth part 32a is formed on the slot hole 31 for telescope action into which the tightening bolt 19 is freely fitted. A pin holder 54 having a lock pin 59 which is engaged and disengaged with the tooth part 32a and is projectingly installed is freely fitted with the tightening bolt 19, and an elastic machine 53 is interposed between a pin holder 54 and an operating lever 56.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle steering column of a type in which a telescopic (hereinafter referred to as "telescopic") adjustment of a steering wheel is locked by a tightening bolt with which a nut fixed to an operating lever is screwed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vehicle steering column, there is provided a telescopic steering column in which a steering wheel can be moved forward and backward in front of a driving occupant in order to ensure an optimum driving posture of the driving occupant.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, an upper tube 4 is vertically movably clamped by a distance bracket 3 which is vertically clamped by an upper bracket 1 fixed to a vehicle body 2, and the upper tube 4 is vertically clamped. A lower tube 4a is slidably fitted to the lower end of the lower tube 4a, the lower end of the lower tube 4a is fixed to the vehicle body 2 by a flexible lower bracket 5, and the steering shaft 6 is inserted into the upper tube 4 and the lower tube 4a. Rotatably and axially expandable and contractible, and the steering wheel 7 is pivotally attached to the steering shaft 6.

On the other hand, a hole 8 through which the tightening bolt 10 penetrates is formed in the upper bracket 1, and a telescopic elongated hole 9 overlapping the hole 8 is provided in the distance bracket 3, and the telescopic elongated hole 9 and the hole 8 are formed. Further, the tightening bolt 10 is penetrated through, and the detent member 11 is screwed to the head of the tightening bolt 10 and the operation lever 13 having the nut 12 fixed to the screw portion is screwed.

Then, the operating lever 13 is rotated to release the upper bracket 1 from tightening the distance bracket 3, and the steering wheel 7 is pushed and pulled in front of the driving occupant. The upper tube 4 and the steering shaft 6 can be moved and adjusted in the axial direction inside the steering wheel 7.
Is moved to the side of the driving occupant and set to a desired position, and the operation lever 13 is turned in the opposite direction to tighten the distance bracket 3 with the upper bracket 1 so that the position is locked at the set position.

[0006]

However, it is not possible to fix the position of the distance bracket 3 in the upper bracket 1 by the frictional force generated between the upper bracket 1 and the distance bracket 3 by the tightening force of the tightening bolt 10. Obviously, when a force that overcomes the frictional force is applied, the distance bracket 3 easily slides to the front side of the vehicle body and the initially set position of the steering wheel 7 changes.

For example, in a secondary collision accident in which a driving occupant collides with the steering wheel 7 during a vehicle frontal collision,
When the driving occupant collides with the steering wheel 7, the load thereof is input in the axial direction of the steering shaft 6, so that the distance bracket 3 is pushed to the front side of the vehicle body (axial direction of the steering shaft 5) via the upper tube 4. Therefore, the distance bracket 3 easily moves to the front side of the vehicle body against the tightening force of the tightening bolt 10.

To cope with this movement, the tightening bolt 10
However, if this is done, the operating force of the operating lever 13 required for the telescopic adjustment will be excessively required, and the adjustment operation cannot be performed by a weak driving occupant.

Furthermore, this movement is a free running time until the absorption of energy at the time of secondary collision is started, and there is a possibility that a significant impact load is generated immediately after the start of energy absorption. And in the prior art, a shock absorber was required in the steering column in order to reduce the impact load.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to prevent the idling of the steering wheel moving toward the front of the vehicle without absorbing the energy at the time of collision of the telescopic steering column locked by the tightening bolt.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle steering column comprising: a tightening bolt that penetrates through an elongated hole for telescoping of an upper bracket and a jacket fixing bracket held by the upper bracket; The nut fixed to the operation lever is screwed, and the operation bolt is rotated to tighten the upper bracket to the jacket fixing bracket to lock the telescopic setting position, and the tightening bolt is loosely fitted in the vehicle steering column. A tooth holder is provided in the telescopic long hole, and a pin holder provided with a lock pin protruding from and disengaged from the tooth holder is loosely fitted to the tightening bolt, and an ammunition is interposed between the pin holder and the operation lever. It is characterized by having done.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the telescopic elongated hole connects the jacket tube and extends from the jacket fixing bracket slidably engaged with the lower bracket along the jacket tube into the upper bracket. It is characterized in that it is formed in the arm portion.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the operation lever is fixed to the tightening bolt that penetrates the tilt long hole of the upper bracket and the telescopic long hole of the jacket fixing bracket sandwiched by the upper bracket. In a vehicle steering column in which a nut is screwed and the operation lever is rotated to fasten the upper bracket to the jacket fixing bracket to lock the tilt and telescoping set positions, the telescoping length into which the tightening bolt is loosely fitted. A tooth portion is provided in the hole, and a pin holder having a locking pin protruding from and disengaged from the tooth portion is loosely fitted to the tightening bolt, and an ammunition is interposed between the pin holder and the operating lever. , A tooth portion is provided in a tilting long hole into which the tightening bolt is loosely fitted, and a stopper lever having a tooth portion that engages and disengages with the tooth portion is provided with the tightening button. Characterized in that it was loosely fitted in the door.

[0014]

[Operation] When the operating lever is rotated to release the tightening bolt from tightening the upper bracket to the jacket fixing bracket, the ammunition machine slidably contacting the operating lever rotates together to rotate the pin holder together. To release the engagement between the pin of the pin holder and the tooth on the telescopic long hole side, and the operation lever to release the engagement between the tooth of the stopper lever and the tooth of the long hole for tilting to fix the jacket. Since the tightening bolt can move in the telescopic long hole and the tilt long hole through the bracket, the telescopic and tilt adjustments can be performed. Therefore, the steering wheel is set at a desired position.

On the contrary, when the operation lever is rotated and the upper bracket is fastened to the jacket fixing bracket with the tightening bolt, the operation lever and the ammunition rotate together to rotate the pin holder together. As a result, the pin of the pin holder is engaged with the tooth portion of the telescopic lock plate, or is pressed against the tooth portion by a bullet and cannot move at the time of collision, or engages with a minimum movement, and thereafter, the tightening bolt. Cannot move in the telescopic long hole, and therefore the jacket fixing bracket cannot move. Further, the stopper lever is rotated by the operation lever, and its tooth portion engages with the tooth portion of the tilt elongated hole, so that the tightening bolt cannot move in the tilt elongated hole.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, vertical tilt long holes 16 are formed in both sides of an upper bracket 15 fixed to a vehicle body, and a tightening bolt 19 penetrating the tilt long holes 16 is formed.
The jacket holder 22 is sandwiched in the upper bracket 15 so that it can move up and down.
An oval-shaped opening portion 21 is formed through which the tightening bolt 19 penetrates and also penetrates and tightens the body portion 20a of the jacket tube 20 having an oval-shaped cross section. The jacket holder 22 has a projecting portion 2 that engages with a window portion 23 that is opened at the upper portions of both sides of the upper bracket 15 so as to be vertically movable.
4 A jacket fixing bracket 25 is connected near the lower end of the jacket tube 20.

The jacket fixing bracket 25 has a mounting portion 26 to which the jacket tube 20 is welded, a curved portion 27 which is plastically deformed when the mounting portion 26 moves to the front side of the vehicle body, and the curved portion 27 can be displaced. It is composed of a concave cross-section member formed by symmetrically arranging a cut 28 and a cut 28 on both left and right side walls. A front telescopic elongated hole 29 is formed at the front end of the side wall, and An arm portion 30 extending along the jacket tube 20 into the upper bracket 15 is formed at the rear end portion, and a rear telescopic elongated hole 31 is formed in the arm portion 30.

One arm 30 is formed with a slightly long rear telescopic long hole 31 with a step and has the same shape as the rear telescopic long hole 31 and has a tooth portion 32a at the lower inner peripheral edge.
The telescopic lock plate 32 having the long hole 32b formed with is joined by welding or the like. The tooth portion 32a is lower than the inner peripheral edge of the other rear telescopic long hole 31. The tightening bolt 19 penetrates the rear telescopic long hole 31 and the long hole 32b. Therefore, the tightening bolt 19 can move in the rear telescopic elongated hole 31 without contacting the tooth portion 32a. The tooth portion 32a may be formed in the telescopic elongated hole 31.

A steering shaft 33 penetrates the jacket tube 20 so as to be contractible in the axial direction. The steering shaft 33 includes a shaft 3 on the side of the steering wheel 34 and a tube 3 connected to the shaft 35 by welding or the like.
6, a serration is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tube 36, and the lower bracket 37 side serving as a tilt hinge is formed of a shaft 38 on one outer peripheral surface of which serration is engaged with the serration. The lower bracket 37 is connected to a bearing 39 that rotatably supports the other end of the shaft 38.

Then, the circular holes 40 formed on both sides of the lower bracket 37, the collar 41 fitted to the front telescopic elongated hole 29, and the circular hole 4 of the bracket 42 fixed to the vehicle body.
The steering shaft 33 is supported rotatably in the up-down direction about the tilt hinge bolt 45 by a tilt hinge bolt 45 that passes through each of the shafts 3 and is fastened with a nut 44. An intermediate shaft 46 is connected to the lower end of the steering shaft 33 via a universal joint 47 by a normal road.

A tooth portion 16a is formed on the upper inner side of one of the tilt slots 16 of the upper bracket 15, and a protrusion 48 is formed in the tilt slot 16 as shown in FIG. 9A. And a stopper lever 51 provided with a claw-shaped tooth portion 49 that meshes with the tooth portion 16a of the tilting long hole 16 and a rotation stopper 50 of the operating lever 56 to allow the tightening bolt 19 to pass through, and tilt A cam plate 52 that abuts on the stopper lever 51, an ammunition machine 53 formed of a coil spring, and a ring-shaped pin holder 54 are loosely fitted to the tightening bolt 19 protruding from the elongated hole 16 for a nut at one end. 55 is screwed together.

The nut 55 has a hexagonal hole 5 in the operating lever 56.
6b is fitted and joined. One end of the bullet 53 is locked in the hole 56a of the operating lever 56, and the other end is locked in the engaging portion 54a of the pin holder 54. A lock pin 59 is provided on the pin holder 54 so as to be engageable with and disengageable from the tooth portion 32 a of the telescopic lock plate 32. The lock pin 59 extends into the upper bracket 15 from a long hole 15a formed in a side portion of the upper bracket 15, and extends into a long hole 32b of the telescopic lock plate 32.

The cam plate 52 has a U-shaped cross section for holding the side surface of the stopper lever 51, and has a substantially fan-shaped tongue piece portion 52b projecting toward the center at regular intervals inside the circular hole 52a.
Is formed, and the tightening bolt 19 penetrates through the central portion thereof.
As shown in FIG. 9B, the nut 55 of the operation lever 56 has a substantially fan-shaped convex portion 55a corresponding to the tongue piece portion 52b.
And a cam portion 55c composed of a concave portion 55b.

A detent member 57 is attached to the other end of the tightening bolt 19 by a normal road with a push nut 58. Further, the hole 51a of the stopper lever 51 into which the tightening bolt 19 is loosely fitted is a vertically long hole, and the size thereof is set to about one tooth of the tooth portion.
As a result, the tightening bolt 19 is used to tighten the upper bracket 15.
Even if the tooth portion 49 and the tooth portion 16a are deviated from each other when they are tightened and fixed, the stopper lever 51 moves by the amount of the long hole 51a, and the tooth portion 49 and the tooth portion 16a mesh with each other.

Further, a balance spring 60 for tilting, which is a double coil spring having both ends locked to the sides of the upper bracket 15, locks both ends in holes 15b formed in both sides of the upper bracket 15. The central portion thereof is arranged to be engaged with the jacket holder 22.

The operation of the above embodiment will now be described. When the operating lever 56 is in the release position, the convex portion 55a of the cam portion 55c of the nut 55 of the operating lever 56 fits into the circular hole 52a of the cam plate 52. It is crowded. The stopper lever 51 is held by the cam plate 52.
In addition, the pin holder 54 is operated by the operating lever 56,
It rotates clockwise through 3, and the lock pin 59 is floated above the tooth portion 32a of the telescopic lock plate 32.

Therefore, the tilt or telescopic adjustment can be set as desired within the range of the tilt long hole 16, the rear telescopic long hole 31 and the long hole 32b. That is, the tilt is set by moving the steering wheel in the vertical direction, and the telescopic setting is made by moving the steering wheel in the front-back direction.

Therefore, when the operation lever 36 is rotated in the lock direction (counterclockwise direction) in order to lock the set tilt adjustment position (hereinafter, tilt lock), the stopper lever 51 is held by the cam plate 52. , And the tooth portion 49 of the stopper lever 51 meshes with the tooth portion 16a of the upper bracket 15. In this case, the tooth portion 49
Even if the positions of the tooth portion 16a and the tooth portion 16a deviate from each other, the hole 51a of the stopper lever 50 is an elongated hole in the vertical direction, and the vertical direction of the cam plate 52 is open. When 51 rotates, the tooth 49 is guided into the tooth 16a, and the stopper lever 51 moves up and down to completely mesh.

Further, in order to lock the set telescoping adjustment position (hereinafter referred to as telescoping lock), when the operating lever 36 is rotated in the locking direction (counterclockwise direction), the pin holder 5
4 rotates together with the operating lever 56 via the ammunition machine 53, and the lock pin 59 moves the tooth portion 32a of the telescopic lock plate 32.
Press on. In this case, the lock pin 59 and the tooth portion 32a
If the positions match, the two are engaged, but if the positions do not match, the lock pin 59 abuts on the tooth portion 32a and is pressed by the bullet 53.

Then, when the operation lever 56 is further rotated in the locking direction, the projection 5 of the nut 55 of the operation lever 56 is rotated.
5a rides on the tongue piece portion 52b of the cam plate 52, and a large axial force is generated in the tightening bolt 19. Therefore, in the tilt lock, the upper bracket 15 is fixed to the jacket fixing bracket 25 in the same manner as the current foot tilt.
The bolt 30 is fastened and fixed by the bolt axial force generated in the arm portion 30 and the jacket holder 22. Further, in the telescopic lock, the body portion 20a of the jacket 20 is tightened by the opening 21 of the jacket holder 22 by the bolt axial force. The arm portion 30 of the jacket fixing bracket is also fastened.

Due to the axial force thus generated, in the tilt lock, the stopper lever 51 is moved to the upper bracket 1
It is tightened and fixed in the state of meshing with 5. Also,
In the telescopic lock, since the operation lever 56 rotates until it hits the rotation stop 50 of the stopper lever 51, the bullet 53 is bent, and the lock pin 59 is pressed against the tooth portion 32a of the telescopic lock plate 32 with a larger force.

Next, in order to release the tilt lock and the telescopic lock, the operation lever 56 is released in the release direction (clockwise direction).
When it is turned to, the tilt lock and the telescopic lock are released in the reverse order of the above operation. In order to ensure this release operation, the stopper lever 51
The release-side stopper portion 56c (see FIGS. 7 and 9) of the operation lever 56 that sandwiches the rotation stopper 50 rotates the rotation stopper 50 of the stopper lever 51 in the release direction. Further, in the telescopic lock, when the operation lever 56 rotates in the releasing direction,
It acts in a direction to increase the diameter of the ammunition 53 (clockwise), but the diameter of the ammunition 53 is restricted by the hole diameter of the pin holder 54, so it cannot be increased, and the pin holder 54 is moved in the releasing direction. Rotate.

Thus, when the operating lever 56 is rotated to lock the upper bracket 15 with the tightening bolt 19, the convex portion 55a of the nut 55 is engaged with the circular hole 52a of the cam plate 52. Stopper lever 51
Is rotated counterclockwise so that its tooth portion 49 engages with the tooth portion 16a of the tilting elongated hole 16. Further, whether the pin holder 54 is rotated in the same direction as the operation lever 56 via the ammunition 53 and the lock pin 59 is pressed against the tooth portion 32a,
Engage. The protrusion 55a of the operating lever 56 is positioned on the tongue piece 52b of the cam plate 52 when locked.
When the lock is released, the convex portion 55 is fitted in the circular hole 52a.

Therefore, at the time of a vehicle collision accident, when the load of the driving occupant is input to the steering wheel 34, both the steering shaft 33 and the jacket tube 20 move in the axial direction, and the bracket 25 for fixing the jacket has the long hole 31. The lock pin 59 of the pin holder 54 is moved to the tooth portion 32a of the telescopic lock plate 32 while the tightening bolt 19 engaging with is left behind.
The movement is minimally impeded because it is engaged with or slightly displaced.

Further, the tooth portion 49 of the stopper lever 51
Since the tooth portion 16a of the tilting long hole 16 is meshed with each other, the tightening bolt 19 does not move upward even with respect to the component force of the load of the driving occupant input to the steering wheel 34. Therefore, unlike the structure in which the jacket fixing bracket 25 is fixed to the upper bracket 15 only by the tightening force of the tightening bolts 19, it is less likely that an accidental idling will occur.

Since the jacket fixing bracket 25 is fixed by the engagement of the lock pin 59 and the tooth portion 32a, the jacket tube 20 moves the mounting portion 26 of the jacket fixing bracket 25 to the front side of the vehicle body and bends. 27
Is plastically deformed, and the side wall portion is broken along the cut 28 to absorb the impact energy. Therefore, it is avoided that the impact load of the driving occupant is absorbed by the jacket fixing bracket 25 and the driving occupant receives an excessive impact.

[0037]

According to the present invention described above, when the tightening bolt is tightened via the operation lever, the pin of the pin holder is always automatically pushed or engaged with the tooth portion of the telescopic lock plate. Even if the load of the driving occupant is input to the steering wheel in the event of a vehicle collision, it is possible to minimize the time and distance that the steering wheel idles in front of the vehicle without absorbing energy. The characteristics can be improved.

When the tightening bolt is unfastened via the operation lever, the pin of the pin holder loosely fitted in the tightening bolt separates from the tooth portion. It does not adversely affect the telescopic adjustment operation as it allows it to move within the hole.

At the same time as the telescopic lock, the tooth portion of the stopper lever engages with the tooth portion of the elongated slot for tilting.
Prevent the steering wheel from moving upward.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part of FIG.

4 is a cross section taken along line AA of FIG.

5 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

7 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

9 (A) and 9 (B) are perspective views of components, respectively.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is a sectional front view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 15 ... Upper bracket 16 ... Tilt long hole 16a ... Teeth 19 ... Tightening bolt 20 ... Jacket tube 22 ... Jacket holder 25 ... Jacket fixing bracket 29 ... Front telescoping long hole 31 ... Rear telescoping long hole 32 ... Telescopic lock plate 32a ... Tooth portion 33 ... Steering shaft 37 ... Lower bracket 39 ... Bearing 45 ... Tilt hinge bolt 46 ... Intermediate shaft 51 ... Stopper lever 52 ... Cam plate 53 ... Ammunition 54 ... Pin holder 55 ... Nut 56 ... Operation lever 59 ... Lock pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A nut fixed to an operation lever is screwed into a tightening bolt that penetrates a telescopic elongated hole of an upper bracket and a jacket fixing bracket held by the upper bracket, and the operation lever is rotated to rotate the upper bracket. In a vehicle steering column that locks the telescoping setting position by tightening the bracket to the jacket fixing bracket, a tooth portion is provided in the telescopic elongated hole into which the tightening bolt is loosely fitted, and a lock pin that engages and disengages with the tooth portion is projected. A steering column for a vehicle, wherein an established pin holder is loosely fitted to the tightening bolt, and an ammunition is interposed between the pin holder and an operating lever. 2. The telescopic elongated hole is formed in an arm portion that connects the jacket tube and extends from the jacket fixing bracket slidably engaged with the lower bracket into the upper bracket along the jacket tube. The steering column for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A nut fixed to an operating lever is screwed into a tightening bolt that penetrates a long hole for tilting of an upper bracket and a long hole for telescoping of a jacket fixing bracket held by the upper bracket. In a vehicle steering column in which the tilt and telescopic setting positions are locked by rotating the operating lever to tighten the upper bracket to the jacket fixing bracket, a tooth portion is provided in the telescopic elongated hole into which the tightening bolt is loosely fitted. A pin holder provided with a lock pin that engages with and disengages from the tooth portion is loosely fitted to the tightening bolt, and an ammunition is interposed between the pin holder and the operating lever, and the tightening bolt is provided. Is provided with a toothed portion in a tilting long hole into which is loosely fitted, and a stopper lever having a toothed portion that engages and disengages with the toothed portion is loosely fitted into the tightening bolt. A steering column for vehicles characterized by.