JPS5820561A - Rack-and-pinion system steering gear - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To failitate the adjustment of the meshing condition of a rack and a pinion by pressing a retainer bearing against the rack through a wedge mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A rack 26 meshing with a pinion shaft 21 connected on its end to a steering shaft is supported in a housing 25 to be movable in the direction approximately perpendicular to the pinion shaft 21. A retainer 27 contacting slidably a cylindrical portion 28 of the housing 25 bears against the lower portion of the rack 26, and is formed at the lower end with an inclined plane 29 having slant angle theta smaller than 45 deg.. A sliding block 30 having on the upper surface a slant face 31 conforming to the inclined plane 29 and a wedge-shaped section is disposed below the retainer 27. This block 30 is moved right by turing a screw 34 bearing against an end of the block 30 so that the meshing condition of the rack 26 and th pinion shaft 21 can be adjusted through the retainer 27.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention provides a rack and pinion steering device;
More specifically, the present invention relates to a rack and pinion steering device with an improved mechanism for adjusting the meshing state between the rack and pinion.

As a conventional rack and pinion type steering device, there is, for example, one shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, (1) is a pinion shaft, and the pinion shaft (1) has a pinion (2) formed at one end.

Both ends of the pinion (2) are supported by pinion bearings (31 (41 are rotatable in the housing (5)), and the pinion shaft (
1) The other end is connected to a steering shaft (not shown).

A rack (6) is meshed with the pinion (2), and the rack (6) is slidably supported by the housing (5) in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pinion shaft (1), and both ends thereof are connected to links (not shown). It is connected to knuckle arms (not shown) of both left and right wheels via rods. (7) is a retainer that slides into contact with the cylindrical part (8) of the housing (5), and this retainer (
7) has one end in contact with the rack (6) and the other end in contact with one end of a spring (9) serving as an elastic body and is pressed. The other end of the spring (9) is the adjustment screw αQ.
The adjustment screw OQ is screwed into the cylindrical portion (8) of the housing (5). A nut portion OD is formed at the other end of the adjustment screw Ql,
A wrench or the like is engaged with this nut portion αυ and the adjustment screw αC is rotated. Adjustment screw QOI
When the adjustment screw is rotated, the cylindrical part (8
), one end of which presses the other end of the retainer (7). As a result, one end of the retainer (7) is attached to the rack (
6), and the rack (6) is pressed against the binion (2). If you change the rotation angle of the adjustment screw (101), the force with which one end of the retainer (7) presses against the rack (6) will change accordingly, adjusting the engagement between the rack (6) and the pinion (2), and adjusting the backlash. At this time, if the rotation angle of the adjustment screw 01 is increased, the rack (6) will be strongly pressed against the binion (2), making the so-called heavy steering. 2) and the rack (6) so that there is no backlash and the steering is not heavy, it is necessary to move the retainer (7) by a small distance. This is done by rotating the adjust screw 01. Once the meshing state of the rack (6) and the binion (2) is determined in this way, adjust screw 01 is rotated slightly in the opposite direction, and one end of adjust screw 01 is connected to the retainer (force A gap α2 is formed between the retainer (7) and the other end, and the spring (9) presses the retainer (7) thereafter.As a result, the adjustment screw (101 and the spring (9)
) constitutes a pressing mechanism (131) as a whole.The gap 02 prevents minute vibrations generated in both left and right wheels from being transmitted to the steering wheel (for example, shimmy phenomenon), and this gap 02 prevents the retainer (7 ) is given play and the vibration is absorbed by the spring (9).Therefore, this gap (121) must also be adjusted by rotating the adjustment screw a in the opposite direction. At this point, the adjustment screw αQ is fixed to the housing (5) by the lock nut α force to prevent it from rotating freely.

However, in such conventional rack-and-binion steering devices, the retainer is moved in the axial direction of the cylindrical portion by rotating the adjust screw that is threaded into the nozzle. The moving distance of the retainer in the axial direction with respect to the rotation angle is determined by the pitch of the adjusting screw, and one rotation of the nut portion causes the retainer to move by the pitch of the adjusting screw.

Therefore, there was a problem in that it was very difficult to adjust the retainer by rotating the adjustment screw so as to move the retainer by minute distances.

Further, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the state in which this rack-and-binion type steering device is attached to a vehicle body. In Figure 2, a51 is the dash panel as the vehicle body,
The /・Using (5) of the steering device is attached to the bolt αη of the bracket αe fixed to the dash panel a9.
is fixed. A steering shaft α mark is connected to the other end of the pinion shaft (1), and the cylindrical portion (8) of the housing (5) faces the dash panel α. As a result, the nut part 0 of the adjustment screw aQl
1) and the dash panel α9 is usually narrow. Therefore, there was a problem in that it was difficult to perform the adjustment operation by engaging the wrench Q9 with the nut portion 0]) and rotating the adjustment screw QllI.

The present invention has been made by focusing on such conventional problems, and includes a screw that is movable relative to a housing, a sliding block that moves in conjunction with the screw and abuts a retainer, and a sliding block that moves in conjunction with the screw and comes into contact with a retainer. A first slope provided on the contact surface of the block with the retainer or a surface opposite to this contact surface, a second slope provided on the retainer or housing and contacting the first slope, and biasing the retainer against the rack. The problem is solved by forming first and second slopes so that the retainer moves forward and backward with respect to the rack as the screw moves, and the amount of movement of the retainer is smaller than the amount of movement of the screw. The purpose is to

The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration will be explained. In Fig. 3, (2υ is a pinion shaft, and this pinion shaft CD has a pinion shaft formed at one end.Both ends of the pinion CI!21 are rotatably attached to the housing C with pinion bearings (23) fi14). The other end of the pinion shaft Qυ is connected to a steering wheel (not shown) via a steering shaft (not shown). A rack (A) is meshed with the pinion (A), and the rack (A) is supported by a 7/Using (A) so as to be slidable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pinion axis Cυ, and both ends of the rack (A) are connected to link rods (not shown). It is connected to the knuckle arms (not shown) of both the left and right wheels via. As a result,
When the steering wheel is steered, the binion (A) rotates via the steering shaft, and this rotation is converted into linear motion by the rack (A), causing both the left and right wheels to change direction.

(5) is a retainer that comes into sliding contact with the cylindrical part (C) of the housing C251, and one end of this retainer @ is a rack (A).
is in contact with. A first slope ridge is formed at the other end of the retainer (C), and the inclination angle (θ) of this first slope (C) is smaller than 45°. The first slope (c) has a second slope formed at one end of the sliding block (7) having a wedge-shaped cross section.
The slope Gυ is in contact with the second slope 0υ, and the retainer (27
) has the same inclination angle as the first slope ( ).The other end of the sliding block gloss is the cover C32+ of the cylindrical part
and the three lids (c) are in contact with the housing (c) C33
) is fixed. (goods) is a screw screwed into the cylindrical part, and one end of this screw (goods) can come into contact with the -side surface of the sliding block (to), and this end and the -side surface of the sliding block (to). A gap (c) is formed between the two. In addition, a groove is formed at the other end of the screw protruding from the outer surface of the cylindrical part (c), and a screwdriver can be inserted into this groove to rotate the screw. . Furthermore, the - side of the sliding block (to) is a spring 07 as an elastic body.
), and the other end of the spring c37) is in contact with the inside of the cylindrical portion. Retainer with first slope (2) formed □
□□, the sliding block (to) on which the second slope 6υ is formed, the screw (b), and the spring C37) collectively constitute a suppression mechanism (to). In addition, in order to hold the retainer (5) without wobbling, the first. The second slope (C) Gυ intersects with the axis of the retainer (5). Note that OI is a lock nut that prevents free rotation of the screw.

Moreover, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the rack-and-binion type steering device according to the present invention is attached to a vehicle body.

In the figure, (4tl is the dash panel as the vehicle body, and this dash panel (4G bracket (4υ is the steering device) and the Uzing (25) are fixed with bolts (4). The pinion shaft (21 One end of the steering shirt (43) is connected to the other end of the steering shaft (43), and a steering wheel (not shown) is connected to the other end of the steering shaft (43).
・The cylindrical part (to) of Uzing (ha) is attached to the dash panel (4
I am forced to face G. In addition, (44J is a screwdriver that rotates the screw. As a result, when the screw (to) is rotated with a screwdriver and the screw (b) is screwed into the cylindrical part (c), one end of the screw (b) will be attached to the sliding block. (
7) - Press the sides. Then, the second slope 0υ of the sliding block (to) presses the first slope (29) of the retainer (5), and the cylindrical part (2) slides in the direction in which the retainer (5) approaches the rack (A). Therefore, the sliding block (to) moves in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sliding direction of the retainer (to) while pressing the first slope (c) of the retainer (5). After moving the sliding block (to) a predetermined distance, the screw (b) is rotated in the opposite direction to form a gap c35).
? ) to press the − side of the sliding block (to). Since the sliding distance of the retainer 2 is (h) and the moving distance of the sliding block (2) is (theta), the inclination angle of the slope @01 is (theta), so h=ltantheta. However, since the inclination angle (θ) is smaller than 45°, tanθ<1, and h<l. In other words, the sliding distance of the retainer (2) can be made smaller than the moving pressure Ill (A') of the sliding block (7).

Therefore, it is extremely easy to slide the retainer (c) by small distances, and the rack (to) and the binion (c)
221 can be easily brought into an appropriate meshing state.

Further, fine adjustment of the gap C351 for preventing vibrations such as shimmy phenomenon by giving play to the retainer becomes easy as well.

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 4, the other end of the screw (to) protrudes from the side surface of the cylindrical part (C) of the housing (C), so the above-mentioned work can be easily performed and the workability is improved. improves.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
Although the second slope Gυ is provided on the sliding block (to), in FIG. 5, the first slope (
50) to the housing C51 that abuts the first slope.
A slope of 6υ is provided. The other configurations are the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and the operations and effects are also the same.

Needless to say, the first. The second slope is set so that the movement distance of the retainer (3) is smaller than the movement distance of the screw C31 (is less than 45 degrees, and the first and second slope trowels 6υ intersect with the axis of the retainer (c). There is.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is a screw that is movable relative to the housing, a sliding block that moves in conjunction with the screw and comes into contact with the retainer, and a sliding block that is movable relative to the housing, and A first slope provided on the contact surface of the sliding block with the retainer or a surface opposite to the contact surface of the cheek; a second slope provided on the retainer or housing that contacts the first slope; and the retainer is mounted on the rack. a biasing elastic body, the retainer is moved forward and backward with respect to the rack by the movement of the screw so that the amount of movement of the retainer is smaller than the amount of movement of the screw;
Since the second slope is formed, it is possible to easily move the retainer by a small distance to adjust the engagement between the rack and pinion, and to adjust the gap between the retainers to prevent shimmy phenomenon.

Furthermore, the effect of improving workability can also be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional rack-and-pinion steering gear device, Fig. 2 is a partially sectional side view showing how the steering gear device of Fig. 1 is attached to the vehicle body, and Fig. 3 is a side view of the steering gear device of Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the rack-and-pinion steering device according to the invention, FIG. 4 is a partially sectional side view showing the state in which the steering gear device of FIG. 3 is attached to the vehicle body, and FIG. FIG. (24...Pinion, C5)...No Uzing, (
e) Rack, (2η・9・retainer, +29)(
5 (11...first slope, (to)...sliding block, r31)5υ...second slope, (goods)...
Screw, C37)...Spring (elastic body), Stretch...
repression mechanism. Patent Applicant Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney - Department 1 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A pinion rotatably supported by a housing, a rack meshing with the pinion and supported by the housing so as to be slidable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis of the pinion, and one end of which is connected to the rack. A rack-and-pinion steering device including a retainer that abuts, and a suppression mechanism that presses the retainer against the rack, the suppression mechanism including a screw that is movable relative to the housing, and that moves in conjunction with the screw, A sliding block that contacts the retainer, a first slope provided on the contact surface of the sliding block with the retainer or a surface opposite to this contact surface, and a first slope provided on the retainer or housing and contacting the first slope. 2 slopes, and an elastic body that biases the retainer against the rack, and the first and second slopes are configured to move the retainer forward and backward relative to the rack by the movement of the screw so that the amount of movement of the retainer is smaller than the amount of movement of the screw. A rack and pinion type steering device characterized by forming two slopes.