JPH10329724A - Horn switching structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure a horn switching structure that is inexpensive in manufacturing cost, and capable of sounding a horn by only pushing a pad lightly. SOLUTION: When a horn operating surface M of a pad 20 is pushed, this pressing force is transmitted to a thin wall part 48 being low in rigidity without being bent because the rigidity of this horn operating surface M is large enough. Accordingly, this thin wall part 48 is elastically deformed, and the horn operating surface M descends toward a bag holder 36. With this constitution, a claw part 50A of a movable electrode 50 and another claw part 52A of a fixed electrode 52 come into contact with each other, closing a horn operating circuit, and thus a horn is sounded. Doing like this, the horn operating surface M of the pad 20 is formed into hardness and the contact part to softness respectively, and thus the horn is soundable by only pushing the pad 20 lightly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a horn switch structure mounted on a steering wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are the following two structures of a horn switch of a steering wheel having a built-in airbag. One is a floating type in which the whole pad is supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to a steering wheel by a spring, and a contact of a horn switch is provided between the pad and the steering wheel.

On the other side, a membrane switch in which a plurality of metal sheets are laminated is attached to the entire back surface of the pad,
The operation of the horn is closed by turning on the membrane switch by using the bending of the pad.

[0004] However, in the former, since the inflating and deploying airbag needs to be held in a stable state by the pad, the elastic force of the spring supporting the pad cannot be reduced much. For this reason, in order to sound the horn, it is necessary to press the pad strongly, and there is a problem in operability. In the latter case, it is necessary to dispose a membrane switch over the entire surface of the pad, which makes the horn switch expensive.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a horn switch structure which is inexpensive in manufacturing cost and can sound a horn simply by pressing a pad lightly. .

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a bag is stored in a bag holder disposed at the center of a steering wheel, and a pad fixed to the bag holder covers an opening of the bag holder. ing. Therefore, the bag is held in the bag holder in a stable state.

On the other hand, a fixed contact of a horn switch is provided on the bag holder side, and a movable contact of the horn switch is provided on the pad side. The movable contact is provided along a weak portion formed on the pad so as to define the horn operation surface. Therefore, the horn operation surface of the pad has greater rigidity than the fragile portion. When the horn operation surface is pressed, the low-rigidity fragile portion is elastically deformed, and the entire horn operation surface descends toward the bag holder. by this,
The fixed and movable contacts come into contact, closing the circuit and sounding the horn.

As described above, the horn operation surface of the pad is made rigid and the contact portion with the fixed contact is softened,
The horn can be sounded by simply pressing the pad lightly. Also, since it is only necessary to process the fragile portion on the pad, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the fixed electrode plate is attached to the wall of the bag holder as the fixed contact. As a movable contact, a movable electrode plate curved along the shape of the pad is attached to the back side of the horn operation surface.

An elastically bent portion is formed at a portion where the movable electrode plate contacts the fixed electrode plate, and absorbs collision energy with the fixed electrode plate. For this reason, when the horn operation surface is pressed, almost no repulsive force from the fixed electrode plate is felt.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the fragile portion is extended at the center of the pad, and the movable contact provided on the pad descends with the fragile portion at the center as a boundary. At this time, it comes into contact with the fixed contact on the bag holder side, closes the circuit and sounds the horn.

As described above, by changing the processing pattern of the fragile portion, operability of the horn is ensured, and processing of the pad is facilitated by reducing the number of fragile portions.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of ribs extending from the fragile portion toward the wall portion of the bag holder are formed on the pad, and a movable electrode plate as a movable contact is laid over the rib. When the movable electrode plate comes into contact with the fixed electrode plate attached to the wall of the bag holder, the operation circuit of the horn is closed.

By forming the ribs as described above, the rigidity of the pad as a horn operation surface extending from the fragile portion to the wall of the bag holder is increased, and the operating force is transmitted to the fragile portion without fail. Is assured.

[0015]

1 to 3 show a steering wheel 10 using a horn switch structure according to a first embodiment. The steering wheel 10 has a boss 12 connected to a steering shaft. Spokes 14 extend in four directions from the boss 12, and a circular wheel rim 16 is formed at the tip of the spoke 14.

The end portions of the wheel rim 16 and the spokes 14 are integrally covered with a resin cover 18, and a pad 20 is accommodated in a frame defined by an end surface of the resin cover 18.

The pad 20 is a substantially trapezoidal box formed of a resin material, and has leg portions 22 extending from the corners and facing the end surface of the resin cover 18. In addition, a rectangular frame-shaped storage portion 24 is protrudingly provided at the center rear surface of the pad 20 so as to hold the folded bag 26.

A hole 28 is formed in the storage portion 24, and is fixed to a wall portion 38 of a bag holder 36 fixed to an inflator 34 by bolts 30 and nuts 32. The inflator 34 is fixed to the boss portion 12 side, and protrudes into the storage portion 24 from a circular opening 40 formed in the bag holder 36. The flange 42 of the inflator 34 is bolted with the base end of the bag 26 sandwiched between the flange 42 and the bag holder 36.

When the inflator 34 operates,
The gas is blown out from the gas blowout holes 44 to inflate the bag 26, push and break the pad 20, and expand, and swell toward the occupant.

On the other hand, a U-shaped groove 46 is formed on the back surface of the pad 20, and the groove bottom is a thin portion 48 as a fragile portion. The thin portion 48 is formed along the base of the storage portion 24 and has a horn operation surface M (pad 2).
0 front). The horn operation surface M has a certain rigidity, so that the thin portion 48 is elastically deformed by a certain force and bent downward even if any part is pressed.

A movable electrode plate 50 is mounted on the back surface of the pad 20 so as to fit within the range of the horn operation surface M. On both sides in the vehicle width direction, claw portions 50A bent downward are provided. Is formed. One end of an operation circuit of the horn is connected to the claw portion 50A.

Further, a fixed electrode plate 52 is attached to the upper end of the wall portion 38 of the bag holder 36 so as to be located below the claw portion 50A of the movable electrode plate 50. The other end of the operating circuit of the horn is connected to the claw 52A of the fixed electrode plate 52.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, when the horn operation surface M of the pad 20 is pressed, the pressing force is transmitted to the low-rigidity thin portion 48 without bending since the horn operation surface M has high rigidity. And thin part 4
8 is elastically deformed, and the horn operation surface M is
Descend toward 6. Thereby, the movable electrode plate 50
The claw 50A of the fixed electrode plate 52 comes into contact with the claw 50A to close the horn operating circuit and sound the horn.

As described above, the horn operation surface M of the pad 20
The horn can be sounded only by lightly pressing the pad 20 by making the contact portion soft and the contact portion soft. In addition, since it is only necessary to process the thin portion 48 on the pad 20, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Further, since the bag 26 is held by the pad 20 fixed to the bag holder 36, the bag 26 is held in a stable state.

Next, a horn switch structure according to a second embodiment will be described. Since the basic configuration of the horn switch structure of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted, but as shown in FIG. 5, in the second embodiment, the contact portion is not a claw portion but elastically deformable. It is different from the first embodiment in that the flexible portions 56A and 58A are formed. The bent portion 56A is bent upward, and the bent portion 58A is bent downward.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the horn operation surface M of the pad 20 is pressed, the bent portion is elastically deformed to reduce the collision energy between the fixed electrode plate 58 and the movable electrode plate 56, and Do not transmit the repulsive force from the plate 58 to the occupants,
In other words, there is no sense of bottom.

Next, a horn switch structure according to a third embodiment will be described. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in the third embodiment, a groove 62 is formed on the back surface of the central portion of the pad 60, and a thin portion 64 extends in the central portion of the pad 60 along the vehicle length direction. . With the thin portion 64 as a boundary, ribs 66 extend toward the storage portion 72 at a predetermined interval, thereby improving the rigidity of the horn operation surface M. Storage section 7 for rib 66
A movable electrode plate 68 is bridged between the two sides, and the other end of the horn operation circuit is connected to the movable electrode plate 68. Also, at the upper end of the wall portion 38 of the bag holder 36,
A fixed electrode plate 70 is embedded at a position corresponding to the movable electrode plate 68.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, when the horn operation surface M of the pad 60 is pressed, the pad 60 descends so as to be concave with the thin portion 64 at the center as a boundary, and the movable electrode plate 68 and the fixed electrode plate 70 come into contact with each other. Then, close the horn operation circuit and sound the horn. As described above, by changing the processing pattern of the thin portion 64, it is possible to easily process the pad by reducing the thin portion while ensuring the operability of the horn switch.

In the present embodiment, the rigidity of the horn operation surface M extending from the thin portion 64 to the wall portion 38 of the bag holder 36 is increased by forming the rib 66.
Except for the rib 66, the stiffness of the pad 60 having a certain thickness alone does not cause a problem in the operability of the horn switch.

In the present embodiment, the thin portion 64 extends in the vehicle front-rear direction, but may extend in the vehicle width direction. Further, in this embodiment, the thin portion is formed as the fragile portion,
The fragile portion may be made of a material softer than the material of the pad to reduce the rigidity.

[0031]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the horn can be produced simply by pressing the pad lightly at a low manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a steering wheel using a horn switch structure according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a steering wheel using the horn switch structure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a steering wheel using the horn switch structure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a steering wheel using the horn switch structure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a steering wheel using the horn switch structure according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a steering wheel using a horn switch structure according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a steering wheel using a horn switch structure according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a steering wheel using a horn switch structure according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a steering wheel using the horn switch structure according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 pad 24 bag holder 48 thin portion (fragile portion) 50 movable electrode plate (movable contact) 52 fixed electrode plate (fixed contact) 56A bent portion (elastic bent portion) 60 pad 64 thin portion (fragile portion) 66 rib 68 movable electrode Plate (movable contact) 70 Fixed electrode plate (fixed contact)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masaki Yasuda 1st character Noda, Toyota, Oguchi-cho, Niwa-gun, Aichi Prefecture Inside Tokai Rika Electric Works, Ltd. Noda No. 1 Tokai Rika Electric Works, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A bag holder arranged at a center portion of a steering wheel for storing a bag, a pad fixed to the bag holder to cover an opening of the bag holder and holding the bag, and provided on the bag holder side. A fixed contact of the horn switch, a fragile portion formed on the pad to divide the horn operation surface, a movable contact of the horn switch provided along the fragile portion and contacting the fixed contact when the horn operation surface is lowered, Horn switch structure characterized by having. 2. The fixed contact is a fixed electrode plate attached to a wall portion of the bag holder, and the movable contact is attached to a back side of the operation surface and is a movable electrode curved along the shape of the pad. The horn switch structure according to claim 1, wherein the horn switch structure is a plate, and an elastic bent portion is formed at a portion that contacts the fixed electrode plate. 3. A bag holder arranged at the center of the steering wheel for storing a bag, a pad fixed to the bag holder to cover an opening of the bag holder and holding the bag, and provided on the bag holder side. A fixed contact of a horn switch, a fragile portion extending at the center of the pad, and a movable horn switch that contacts the fixed contact when the pad is lowered so as to be recessed from the fragile portion provided on the pad. A horn switch structure comprising: a contact; 4. The fixed contact is a fixed electrode plate attached to a wall of the bag holder, and the movable contact is hung on a plurality of ribs extending from the weakened portion toward the wall of the bag holder. The horn switch structure according to claim 3, wherein the horn switch is a passed movable electrode plate.