JPH10244947A - Steering wheel core metal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a steering wheel core metal in which the formation of an engaging recessed part in a boss cylinder part is easy and the miniaturization, or common use of a brushless relay can be promoted. SOLUTION: This steering wheel core metal is assembled to a steering wheel device provided with a switch cancel mechanism along with a brushless relay 12. In this steering wheel device, the brushless relay 12 is installed on a position surrounding the boss cylinder part 14 of a core metal and the cancel mechanism body 16 is installed just under the brushless relay 12. Cancel pins 24 are projected toward the lower end surface of the boss cylinder part 14 from the cancel inner trunk body 20 of the cancel mechanism body 16. Engaging recessed parts 26 engaged with the cancel pins 24 are formed on the lower end surface of the boss cylinder part 14. The engaging recessed parts 26 are formed in a groove shape while penetrating in a normal line direction from an outer periphery surface to an inner periphery surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel mandrel incorporated in a steering wheel device having a donut-shaped brushless relay together with a switch canceling mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as a relay for electrically connecting a steering wheel side and a column side (vehicle body side) in a steering wheel device, a brushless relay has become mainstream instead of a conventional brush relay. Brushless relays have high reliability of electrical connection,
This is because it is easy to cope with an increase in the number of channels by centralizing the switch function on the steering wheel side.

[0003] An outline of a turn signal switch (lever switch) canceling mechanism in a steering wheel device provided with a brushless relay will be described below (see Figs. 1 and 2).

A brushless relay 12 is disposed at a position surrounding the boss tube portion 14 of the cored bar 11, and the brushless relay 1
A cancellation mechanism 16 is disposed directly below the second mechanism 2. The cancel mechanism 16 includes a cancel outer body 18 on which a lever switch 17 is mounted, and a cancel inner body 20 that is coaxially and freely rotatably incorporated inside the cancel outer body 18. Then, one or more cancel pins (engaging protrusions) 24 project from the upper end surface of the cancel inner body 20 toward the lower end surface of the metal core boss portion 14 on which the steering shaft 22 is fitted (see FIG. 1). (Two in the figure). Then, a hole-shaped engaging concave portion (engaging hole) 26 engaging with the cancel pin 24 is formed on the lower end surface of the boss cylindrical portion 14.
Are formed.

For example, when the lever switch 28 is in the L (left signal) position, the cancel driven claw 30 protrudes. When the steering wheel is rotated to the right, the cancel inner body 20 rotates coaxially with the steering wheel, that is, the steering shaft 22, because the cancel pin 24 and the engaging concave portion 26 of the cored metal boss tube portion 14 are engaged. Then, the cancel driven claw 30 is pushed by the cancel driving claw 32 protruding from the peripheral wall of the cancel inner body 20, and the lever switch 28 is returned to N (neutral position). When the steering wheel is rotated counterclockwise, the cancel driving claw 32 is
To overcome zero, the lever switch 28 remains at the L position. Although not shown, the cancel driven pawl 30
Are interlocked with the lever switch 28 via a ratchet mechanism incorporated in the cancel mechanism.

[0006]

Recently, there has been a strong demand for a compact wheel lower portion of a steering wheel device from the viewpoint of comfort in a vehicle. Accordingly, the diameter of the brushless relay tends to be reduced, and naturally, the inner diameter of the brushless relay also tends to be reduced.

For this reason, it is necessary to reduce the outer diameter of the boss cylindrical portion surrounded by the brushless relay, and the peripheral wall of the boss cylindrical portion tends to be thin. The diameter of the steering shaft cannot be reduced substantially in view of securing constant transmission of rotational torque.

Therefore, it is considered difficult to form a hole-shaped engaging concave portion of the cancel pin in the boss cylinder portion in a predetermined size in the radial direction, and the miniaturization of the brushless relay has not been promoted at present. .

When a brushless relay in a large vehicle such as a large truck or bus is to be used in common with a passenger vehicle, it is necessary to make the boss tube of the large vehicle thin. For this reason, similarly to the above, it is considered difficult to form the engagement concave portion of the cancel pin in the boss cylindrical portion at a predetermined depth in the radial direction, and the sharing of the brushless relay is difficult.
It is still not promoted.

Further, the boss tube portion 14 usually has a serration formed on the inner periphery of the upper portion, and has an insert portion 15 made of a high-hardness steel material and a casting portion 17 for casting the insert portion 15. In many cases, the above-mentioned engaging concave portion 26 is formed at the time of casting, so that it is difficult to form a hole-shaped engaging concave portion from the viewpoint of mold design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel mandrel in which the engagement concave portion in the boss tube portion can be easily formed, and the brushless relay can be downsized or shared. .

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A steering wheel core according to the present invention solves the above problems by the following constitution.

A steering wheel core bar incorporated in a steering wheel device having a donut-shaped brushless relay together with a switch canceling mechanism,
In the steering wheel device, a brushless relay is disposed at a position surrounding a boss cylindrical portion of a cored bar, includes a cancel outer body and a cancel inner body, and a cancel mechanism is disposed immediately below the brushless relay. In the configuration in which the cancel pin protrudes from the upper end surface of the cancel body toward the lower end surface of the boss tube portion, and the engagement concave portion that engages with the cancel pin is formed on the lower end surface of the boss tube portion, A core for a steering wheel, which is formed in a groove shape penetrating in a radial direction from an outer peripheral surface to an inner peripheral surface.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same portions as those in the above-described example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and all or part of the description thereof will be omitted.

In the steering wheel device to which the present embodiment is applied, a brushless relay 12 is disposed at a position surrounding a boss tube portion 14 of a cored bar 10.
A cancel mechanism 16 is disposed immediately below the main body 2, and the cancel mechanism 16 includes a cancel outer body 18 and a cancel inner body 20. Cancel pin 24
Are formed, and an engagement concave portion 26A that engages with the cancel pin 24 is formed on the lower end surface of the boss cylindrical portion 14. (Up to this point, it is the same as the above-described example except for the engagement recess 26A, so refer to FIGS. 1 and 2.) In the above configuration, in the present embodiment, in the present embodiment, the boss cylindrical portion 1 of the cored bar is used.
An engaging recess 26A at the lower end surface of the fourth member 4 is formed in a groove shape penetrating in the normal direction from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an engaging concave portion 26A at the lower end surface of the boss cylindrical portion 14 of the metal core is formed in a groove shape penetrating in a normal direction from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface. In this configuration, the lower end surface of the insert portion 15A is located at the same height or above the engagement recess 26A.

The steering wheel core is set in a mold so as to be positioned (retracted) inside the depth h in the axial direction of the engagement recess 26A, and then cast with a die-cast metal such as aluminum. Make a package. At this time, the engagement recess 26A is usually formed simultaneously with a mold. Note that the insert portion 15A includes a retaining protrusion 16.
After the casting is manufactured, serration is performed on the inner surface on the end side of the insert portion 15A.

In addition, without simultaneously forming the engaging recess, after casting,
Only the casting portion 17A may be formed by a milling machine or the like in the normal direction. At this time, there is no need to cut the insert portion 15A made of a high-hardness steel material, and cutting of the engagement recess 26A is easy. The size of the engagement recess 26A is
That is, usually, axial depth: 5 to 10 mm, width: 5 to 16 mm
And

Further, as shown in FIG.
After making the end face position of B and the casting portion the same height, and manufacturing the casting, the insert portion 15B is cut together with the casting portion 17B with a milling machine or the like to form an engagement concave portion (groove portion) 26B. Is also good.

(2) The steering wheel mandrel manufactured as described above has a rim portion coated with a soft polymer material such as polyurethane and a horn mechanism mounted on the steering wheel, an airbag device, etc. Various equipment is assembled with the pad cover to form a steering wheel assembly. Then, the steering wheel assembly is mounted on a steering shaft together with a lever switch having a cancel mechanism.

At this time, since the engagement concave portion of the cancel pin has a groove shape, there is no problem even if the position of the cancel pin slightly moves in the radial direction.

[0022]

According to the present invention, there is provided a steering wheel mandrel in which an engaging concave portion for engaging with the cancel pin is formed on a lower end surface of a boss cylindrical portion, wherein the engaging concave portion extends from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface. The configuration in which the groove is formed penetrating in the normal direction to the normal direction makes it easy to form the engagement concave portion in the boss cylinder portion. That is, after molding the boss cylinder portion by casting the insert portion, if necessary, it is only necessary to form a groove at the lower end portion of the boss cylinder portion with a milling machine or the like. There is no need to consider and the degree of freedom in design is high. In particular, when the insert portion is retracted from the lower end surface by the depth of the groove to cast-mold the steering wheel core, a cutting step for forming the engaging concave portion is not required in a later process, and the engaging concave portion is not required. The formation is further facilitated.

Accordingly, it is easy to reduce the diameter of the boss cylinder,
The brushless relay can be easily reduced in size or shared.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a steering wheel device provided with a donut-shaped brushless relay together with a switch canceling mechanism to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow 2-2 in FIG. 1 (the boss tube portion is omitted).

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a boss tube according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an inverted perspective view of the boss tube portion.

FIG. 5 is a manufacturing process diagram (an inverted perspective view) of a boss tube portion according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 12 brushless relay 14 core metal boss tube part 15, 15A, 15B insert part 16 cancel mechanism 17, 17A, 17B cast-in part 18 cancel outer body 20 cancel inner body 22 steering shaft 24 cancel pin 26, 26A, 26B engagement Recess 28 Lever switch 30 Cancel driven pawl 32 Cancel driving pawl

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering wheel core that is incorporated in a steering wheel device provided with a donut-shaped brushless relay together with a switch canceling mechanism, wherein the brushless relay surrounds a boss cylindrical portion of the core metal. And a canceling mechanism is disposed immediately below the brushless relay. The canceling mechanism includes a canceling outer body and a canceling inner body, and extends from an upper end surface of the canceling inner body to a lower end surface of the boss tube. In the configuration in which the cancel pin is protruded, and an engagement concave portion that engages with the cancel pin is formed on the lower end surface of the boss cylindrical portion, the engagement concave portion penetrates in a normal direction from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface. A steering wheel core bar formed in a groove shape.