JPH0971209A - Steering wheel provided with air bag mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance design and secure stability at the time of expansion of an air bag. SOLUTION: A steering wheel 1 is provided with a boss plate 3, a ring part core 7, a spoke part core 8 and a steering wheel main body 4, etc., including a cover body 9 and a pad part 13. The pad part 13 is formed in one body with the cover body 9. An air bag mechanism 17 is provided between the boss plate 3 and the pad part 13, and an insert 31 for preventing dispersion of contents from scattering is buried in the inside of the cover body 9 and the pad part 13. In the spoke part core 8, is provided a connection part 34 for placing an approximately tip end part of an adjacent core 8 in connection, and on the connection part 34, is hung a hook 35 integrally formed on the lower part of the frame part 32 of the insert 31. Stress is applied to the insert 31 at the time of expansion of an air bag 22, but the insert 31 is neither pulled out nor shifted from its initial position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel, and more particularly to a steering wheel in which a cover and a pad portion are integrally formed and which has an airbag mechanism inside. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of technique, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-133955 is known. In this technique, as shown in FIG. 8, a boss plate 52 is attached to the steering shaft 51.
At the center of the boss plate 52, an inflator 53 containing a gas generating agent, an airbag 54, and these 5
An airbag mechanism 56 including a bag holder 55 and the like for holding and fixing 3, 54 is arranged. In addition, the boss plate 52 is provided so as to cover the airbag mechanism 56.
A steering wheel body 57 is attached to the. The steering wheel main body 57 includes a metal ring portion core metal 58, a spoke portion core metal 59 extending from the ring portion core metal 58 toward the center, a cover 61 made of polyurethane or the like for covering these, and a pad portion 62. Is equipped with. The pad portion 62 is located above the airbag mechanism 56 and substantially in the center of the steering wheel body 57, and is made of polyurethane or the like, like the cover 61. Further, in this technique, the pad portion 62 is integrally formed so as to be continuous with the covering body 61.

As described above, since the pad portion 62 is continuously and integrally formed with the cover 61, the parting line on the upper surface side of the steering wheel is eliminated and the design is improved. In addition, it is possible to reduce the number of molding steps, and it is possible to reduce the overall manufacturing cost.

Further, according to this technique, inside the cover 61 and the pad portion 62, a resin-made substantially box-shaped insert 63 is provided.
Is buried. The insert 63 is mainly composed of, for example, a frame portion (which may be in the form of a mesh) 64 embedded in the cover 61 and a mesh portion 65 connected to the frame portion 64 via a hinge. There is.

When a predetermined impact force is applied, gas (for example, nitrogen gas) is generated from the inflator 53 and the airbag 54 is inflated. The expanded airbag 54 expands the pad portion 62, and the airbag 54 is further expanded from the steering wheel. In addition, at this time, the presence of the insert 63 reinforces the meat pieces of the cover 61 and the pad portion 62, thereby preventing the meat pieces from scattering.

[0006]

However, in the above technique, the insert 63 is simply provided in the cover 61 and the pad portion 62. Therefore, good holding strength cannot always be obtained, and the insert 63 may be displaced when the airbag 54 is inflated, for example.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve the design and to ensure the stability of an airbag when inflated. To provide a steering wheel having a simple airbag mechanism.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention described in claim 1, a boss plate mounted on a steering shaft, a ring core metal,
A plurality of spoke cores extending from the ring core toward the center and a covering for covering them, and a pad located substantially above the center and integrally formed with the covering, A steering wheel main body in which at least a part of the spoke core metal is attached to the boss plate by a fastener, a gas generator provided between at least the boss plate and the pad portion, and a gas generator generated from the gas generator. A steering wheel having an airbag mechanism including an airbag that expands by gas and expands the pad portion, and an airbag mechanism including an insert embedded in the cover and the pad portion, the spokes In the part core bar, while providing the engaged part extending toward the other spoke part core bar,
The gist is that the insert is provided with an engaging portion that engages with the engaged portion.

According to the above construction, since at least a part of the spoke portion core metal is attached to the boss plate by the fastener, the rotation of the ring portion core metal of the steering wheel body causes the spoke portion core metal and the boss to rotate. It is transmitted to the steering shaft through the plate. Further, in the present invention,
A cover body that covers the ring core metal and the spoke core metal,
The pad portion located substantially above the center is integrally formed. Therefore, the parting line on the upper surface side of the steering wheel is eliminated, and the appearance can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, when a predetermined acceleration fluctuation is present in the vehicle, gas is instantaneously generated from the gas generator and the gas inflates the airbag. Then, the pad portion expands and the airbag bulges from the steering wheel. At this time, the engaging portion of the insert is engaged with the engaged portion provided on the spoke core. Therefore, even if stress is applied to the insert due to the expansion of the airbag, the insert will not be displaced from the initial position.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the steering wheel having the airbag mechanism according to the first aspect, the engaging portion of the insert or the vicinity thereof is
The gist is that it is sandwiched between the engaged portion and the boss plate.

According to the above construction, in addition to the function of the invention described in claim 1, the engaging portion of the insert or the vicinity thereof is sandwiched between the engaged portion and the boss plate. For this reason, the insert is held more firmly, and the above-mentioned action can be made more reliable.

In the present specification, the up-down direction refers to the direction along the axial direction of the steering shaft,
It does not refer to the actual vertical direction. Therefore, the upper side refers to the direction away from the base end of the steering shaft.

Further, in this specification, the term "buried" means:
It is not always necessary to embed all of them, and it is intended to include cases where some of them are exposed.

[0015]

As described above, according to the steering wheel having the airbag mechanism of the present invention, it is possible to improve the design and to ensure the stability when the airbag is inflated. Produce the effect.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the steering wheel 1 is rotatably provided at the tip of a steering shaft 2 with the shaft 2 as an axis. The steering wheel 1 includes a boss plate 3, a steering wheel body 4, and a lower cover (not shown) attached to a lower peripheral edge of the boss plate 3.

More specifically, the metal boss plate 3 is attached to the tip end portion of the steering shaft 2 via an adapter 5, a tightening bolt 6 and the like (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-134368). Fair 2-
24691, Japanese Utility Model Publication 5-2388, etc.).

Further, the steering wheel main body 4 has a ring-shaped core metal bar 7 made of die-cast aluminum, a spoke core metal bar 8 extending from the ring core metal core 7 toward the center, and a polyurethane coating covering these. It has a body 9. Then, the ring portion 1 gripped by the driver
1 is composed of a core metal bar 7 and a covering body 9,
The spoke portion 12 for transmitting the rotation of the ring portion 11 to the boss plate 3 is composed of a spoke core metal 8 and a cover 9.

Further, the steering wheel body 2 is
It also has a pad portion 13 located substantially above the center thereof. The pad portion 13 is made of polyurethane like the covering body 9 and is formed integrally with the covering body 9. Therefore, in the present embodiment, on the upper surface side of the steering wheel 1, the parting line at the boundary between the cover 9 and the pad portion 10 is eliminated, and the appearance is improved.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the front end portion of the spoke core metal 8 and the end edge portion of the boss plate 3 are attached to each other by a bolt 14 as a fastener. By this attachment, the steering wheel body 4
Are attached to the boss plate 3. More specifically, a screw hole 15 is provided at each tip of the spoke core metal 8.
Are formed. On the other hand, bolt holes 16 are formed in the boss plate 3. Then, with the bolt hole 16 and the screw hole 15 aligned, the screw portion 14a
And a bolt 14 having a head portion 14b is screwed.

Now, in the present embodiment, the boss plate 3
The air bag mechanism 17 and the horn switch mechanism 18 are provided between the pad portion 13 and the pad portion 13. The airbag mechanism 17 includes an inflator 21 and a cloth airbag 22 as a gas generator that contains a gas generating agent inside.
Etc. are provided. Airbag 22 and inflator 21
The peripheral edge portion of is fixed to the boss plate 3 by a bolt (not shown).

The coating 9 and the pad portion 13 are made of an elastomer or the like [eg, SEBS (styrene-ethylene-butadiene-ethylene copolymer), TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin, polyester-based elastomer)]. A substantially box-shaped insert 31 is embedded. As shown in FIG. 4, the insert 31 includes, for example, a rectangular frame-shaped frame portion 32 mainly embedded in the cover 9 and a mesh portion 33 connected to the frame portion 32 via a hinge. Has become. Due to the presence of the insert 31, the cover 9 and the pad portion 13
Are reinforced to prevent scattering of the meat pieces of the covering body 9 and the pad portion 13 when the airbag 22 is inflated.

Next, the characteristic part of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, spoke core metal 8
Is provided with a connecting portion 34 as an engaged portion that connects the substantially leading end portions of the adjacent cored bars 8. On the other hand, in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, at the lower portion of the frame portion 32 of the insert 31, the hook 3 as an engaging portion extending inward is provided.
5 is integrally formed. And this hook 35
Is hooked on a part of the connecting portion 34,
The insert 31 is held by the spoke core metal 8.

The boss plate 3 has the hook 35.
It has an extending portion 36 extending toward. Then, the vicinity of the hook 35 is clamped by the extending portion 36 and the connecting portion 34.

The horn switch mechanism 18 is provided with a known membrane switch 24, a relay means (not shown), and the like. Next, functions and effects of the present embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, the pad portion 13 and the cover body 9 are continuously formed integrally from polyurethane. Therefore, on the upper surface side of the steering wheel 1, there is no parting line at the boundary between the cover 9 and the pad portion 13. As a result, the appearance becomes good, and the designability can be improved. In addition, by integrally molding the cover 9 and the pad portion 13, it is possible to reduce the number of steps related to molding. Therefore, the cost can be reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, when a predetermined impact is applied, gas is instantaneously generated from the inflator 21 and the gas inflates the airbag 22. Then, the pad portion 13 expands and the airbag 22 bulges from the steering wheel 1. At this time, the stress in the upper part of the figure is mainly applied to the insert 31 itself. However, in the present embodiment, the hook 35 of the insert 31 is engaged with the connecting portion 34 provided on the spoke core metal 8. Therefore, the airbag 22
Even if upward stress is applied to the insert 31 due to the expansion of the insert 31, the insert 31 does not fall out and does not deviate from the initial position.

Further, in this embodiment, the insert 31
In the vicinity of the hook 35 of the boss plate 3
It is sandwiched between the extension part 36 and the extension part 36. For this reason, the insert 31 is held more firmly, and the above-mentioned action can be made more reliable. As a result, it is possible to secure sufficient stability when the airbag 22 is inflated.

Further, in this embodiment, the spoke cores 8 adjacent to each other are connected by the connecting portion 34, and the insert 31 is supported by the connecting portion 34.
Therefore, when the airbag 22 is inflated, stress is applied to the plurality of spoke cores 8. as a result,
The stability of the airbag 22 when inflated can be further ensured.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but may be configured as follows, for example. (1) In the above embodiment, the hook 3 of the insert 31 is used.
5, the extension portion 36 of the boss plate 3 and the connecting portion 3
It was clamped from the side with 4. On the other hand, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the extension portion 37 of the boss plate 3 and the connecting portion 34 may sandwich the hook 35 of the insert 31 from the vertical direction. Even with such a configuration,
The same operational effects as those of the above-described embodiment are achieved.

(2) In the above embodiment, the inflator 21, the airbag 22, etc. constitute the airbag mechanism 17. On the other hand, a bag holder (not shown) may be provided. That is, the inflator 21 and the airbag 22 may be fixed to the bag holder, and the bag holder may be attached and fixed to the boss report 3.

(3) In the above embodiment, the bolts 14, 24 and 28 are used for fastening and fixing the respective members, but screws, rivets or the like may be used. (4) In the above embodiment, the membrane switch 24 is used in the horn switch mechanism 18, but
You may make it employ | adopt the switch mechanism conventionally used.

(5) In the above embodiment, the boss plate 3 is attached to the tip portion of the steering shaft 2 via the adapter 5, the tightening bolt 6 and the like.
In addition, the boss plate 3 having serrations formed on the inner peripheral surface of the insertion hole is fitted into the tip portion of the steering shaft 2 having serrations, and the nut 6 is tightened from the upper portion of the boss plate 3 to form a boss plate. 3 may be attached to the steering shaft 2.

(6) In the above embodiment, the boss plate 3 having the extending portion 36 is used, and the vicinity of the hook 35 of the insert 31 is sandwiched between the extending portion 36 and the connecting portion 34. However, a boss plate having no such extending portion 36 may be used.

(7) In the above-described embodiment, the connecting portion 34 for connecting the spoke cores 8 adjacent to each other is provided, but the connecting portion 34 does not necessarily have to be connected. That is, an engaged portion extending toward the other spoke core metal 8 is provided for one spoke core metal 8 and the hook 35 of the insert 31 is engaged with the engaged portion. Good.

(8) In the above embodiment, the linear hook 35 is provided, but it may be a partial hook. Further, the relationship between the engaging portion and the engaged portion is not limited to the relationship between the hook and the connecting portion as in the above embodiment. Therefore, the relationship may be, for example, the engagement protrusion and the engagement recess (or the engagement hole).

(9) In the above embodiment, the insert 3
Although 1 is configured to include the frame portion 32 and the mesh portion 33 each having a rectangular frame shape, the shape, configuration, etc. are not particularly limited. Therefore, for example, the frame portion 32 may be configured like a mesh like the mesh portion 33.

The technical idea which is not described in each claim of the claims and can be grasped from the above-described embodiment will be described below together with its effect. (A) In the steering wheel having the airbag mechanism according to any one of claims 1 and 2, the engaged portion is a connecting portion that connects the spoke cores to each other. With such a configuration, it is possible to further ensure the stability of the airbag when it is inflated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a steering wheel mounting structure according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a part partially different from FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an insert.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a spoke core metal and the like.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing an insert, a spoke core metal, a boss plate, and the like.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a steering wheel and the like in a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Steering wheel, 2 ... Steering wheel shaft, 3 ... Boss plate, 4 ... Steering wheel body, 7 ... Ring core metal, 8 ... Spoke core metal, 9 ...
Cover body, 13 ... Pad portion, 17 ... Air bag mechanism, 21
... inflator as gas generator, 22 ... air bag, 31 ... insert, 34 ... connecting part as engaged part, 35 ... hook as engaging part.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A boss plate (3) attached to a steering shaft (2), a ring cored bar (7), and a plurality of spoke cored bars extending toward the center from the ring cored bar (7). 8) and a coating body (9) for coating them, and a pad portion (13) located substantially in the upper center part and integrally formed with the coating body (9), and at least the spoke core metal ( A part of 8) is provided between the steering wheel body (4) attached to the boss plate (3) by a fastener (14) and at least between the boss plate (3) and the pad portion (13). Gas generator (2
1) and an air bag mechanism (17) having an air bag (22) that expands with the gas generated from the gas generator (21) and expands the pad portion (13); and the covering body (9). A steering wheel having an airbag mechanism comprising: an insert (31) embedded in the pad portion (13), wherein the spoke core metal (8) includes another spoke core metal (8). ) Is provided, and the insert (31) is provided with the engaged portion (3).
4) A steering wheel having an airbag mechanism provided with an engaging portion (35) to be engaged with 4). 2. The steering wheel having the airbag mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the engaging portion (35) of the insert (31) or the vicinity thereof is provided with the engaged portion (34) and the boss plate. (3)
A steering wheel having an airbag mechanism characterized by being sandwiched between and.