JPS582695Y2 - steering wheel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a steering wheel, and more particularly to a structure in which a spacer is provided between a hard rim portion and a soft rim portion in a so-called combination steering wheel.

Conventionally, the so-called combination handle steering wheel has a rim part that combines a hard rim part and a soft rim part, but this rim part has an annular core metal inside, and its manufacturing method is (A hard rim part is formed with a predetermined part of the metal core inside, this hard rim part is placed on the lower mold, and then the upper mold is placed on the lower mold and the mold is clamped.
Finally, a soft material is injected into the mold to form a soft rim.

For hard materials, polypropylene resin, reinforced wood, etc. are used, and for soft materials, urethane resin, soft vinyl chloride resin, etc. are used. At the joint of the rim part, the joint end of the soft rim part is separated at each contact point between the mold and the hard rim part, so if the dimensional accuracy of the hard rim part is poor, it may be larger than the mold. When the mold is not completely clamped, the soft material seeps out from the interface between the upper mold and the lower mold, resulting in so-called "burr". Also, if the mold is forcibly tightened, the hard rim part cannot be deformed, so this hard material The rim part is easily scratched.

In addition, if the dimensions of the hard rim part are too small than the mold, the end of the soft material will not be completely separated when the mold is clamped, and the soft material will seep into the gap between the mold and the hard rim part at the joint. Paris occurs.

In particular, it is difficult to prevent the occurrence of cracks in the case where the hard rim portion is formed by cutting wood by stacking thin plates or overlapping and winding thin plates.

When this crack occurs, post-processing is required,
That is why the workability is so bad.

Furthermore, it significantly impairs the appearance, which is one of the important requirements for combination handles.

The present invention was devised in view of these points. A spacer made of semi-hard material is provided at the joint between the hard rim part and the soft rim part, and the dimension of the hard rim part is changed by deformation of this spacer during mold clamping. It is designed to absorb deviations in precision, prevent the occurrence of cracks between the hard rim portion and the soft rim portion, and allow the hard rim portion to be joined without damaging the hard rim portion.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a steering wheel, and the steering wheel 1 has a core metal 2 inside to form an annular rim portion 3 having a circular cross section. Urethane resin in parts,
Soft rim portion 4 made of soft material such as soft vinyl chloride resin
are opposed to each other, and are joined to both ends of the soft rim portion 4 to form a hard rim portion 5 made of, for example, a hard material and having a small cross-sectional diameter.
have the opposite.

The joint between the soft rim portion 4 and the hard rim portion 5 is joined via a spacer 6 made of a semi-hard material such as polyurethane elastomer, a resin commonly called an elastomer, or a semi-hard vinyl chloride resin. ing.

That is, this spacer 6 is formed into a substantially cylindrical shape and consists of a covering part 7 and a retaining part 8 having different outer peripheral shapes.

The covering portion 7 is formed thickly, the inner periphery is formed to have a larger diameter than the core metal 2, the outer periphery is approximately the same shape as the soft rim portion 4, and the end surface is axially intermediate between the thick portions. A step-like recessed portion 9 is formed by cutting out annularly until the end.

This concave portion 9 fits into the end portion of the hard rim portion 5, and the inner circumference and bottom portion of this concave portion 9 are connected to the hard rim portion 5.
Closely adheres to the outer periphery and end face of the end.

Further, the engaging portion 8 is formed by protruding the other end of the covering portion I in a tapered shape from the outer periphery toward the inner periphery and extending the end portion in the axial direction, and the inner periphery is the same as that of the covering portion I. The diameter and outer periphery are smaller than the outer periphery of the hard rim portion 5, and a small protrusion is bored at the end in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction to form an engaging flange portion 10.

The engaging portion 8 of this spacer 6 is embedded in the soft rim portion 4, and the hard rim portion 5 and the soft rim portion 4 are joined via this spacer 6.

Incidentally, an axial cut (not shown) is formed in the covering part 7 and the retaining part 8 of the spacer 6, so that it can be fitted to the end of the hard rim part 5.

Further, spokes 11 are connected to the inner center of the soft rim portion 4, and the spokes 11 are connected to an operating shaft attachment portion 12.

In order to manufacture the rim portion 3, the opposing portions of the core bar 2 are molded inside a hard material to form the hard rim portion 5 as a semi-finished product.

Then, the concave portion 9 of the covering portion T of the spacer 6 is closely fitted to the end of this hard rim portion 5 to cover the outer peripheral surface of this end, and the hard rim portion 5 covered with the spacer 6 is formed. The mold is placed at a predetermined position in the lower mold M for use, and the mold is clamped with the upper mold M.

At this time, the outer periphery of the spacer 6 is in close contact with the mold.

Next, a soft material is injected into the cavity in the mold to form the soft rim portion 4.

In this way, when the upper mold 14 and the lower mold M are brought together and clamped, the spacer 6 deforms due to its semi-rigid nature and absorbs the surface deflection of the core metal 2 and the dimensional error of the hard rim portion 5. The interface between the upper mold M and the lower mold M is in close contact with each other, and even when a soft material is injected into the mold, the soft material is contained within the mold and does not ooze out onto the interface, thereby preventing the occurrence of so-called flash.

Further, the engaging flange 10 of the spacer 6 is immovably locked in the soft rim 4, and the soft rim 4 and the spacer 6 are firmly held together, while the covering portion of the spacer 6 Since the spacer 7 is tightly attached to the hard rim portion 5 through mold clamping, the spacer 6 is fixed in this tightly attached state together with the molding of the soft rim portion 4, and its position is firmly fixed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the entire circumference of the core bar 2 is covered with a hard material, and further, stepped hard rim portions 5 are integrally formed at predetermined opposing positions over the entire circumference of the cross section. You can.

Then, the spacer 6 is fitted onto the end of the hard rim portion 5 and the mold is clamped, and then a soft material is injected to form the soft rim portion 4.

In this way, when the soft rim portion 4 is made of foam, the foaming ratio can be increased.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 4, the spacer 6 has a tapered concave portion in which the covering portion T and the engaging portion 8 are connected to each other by gradually decreasing the inner circumference from the outer periphery of the covering portion T toward the axis. A suppressor 13 may also be formed.

In this way, the molding pressure of the soft rim portion 4 is applied to this pressing portion 1.
The spacer 6 works to press the tapered surface of the spacer 3 against the mold wall, and the spacer 6 comes into closer contact with the mold wall.

According to the present invention, a spacer made of a semi-hard material is fitted and covered at the end of the hard rim part, and the soft rim part is joined to the hard rim part via this spacer. When the mold is clamped through the spacer, the spacer deforms according to the shape of the mold, allowing the mold to fit tightly together.
Even if the hard rim part has poor dimensional accuracy and is too large or small compared to the mold, the spacer can absorb the deviation.

As a result, a gap is created at the interface between the molds and the soft material oozes out, or at the joint between the soft rim and the hard rim, resin oozes into the gap between the mold and the hard rim. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of so-called flakes, and there is no need for post-processing to remove the flakes, improving workability.

Since the rim part is often not circular in cross-section and often has a distorted elliptical shape, these variations in shape can be absorbed by spacers and molded according to the variations in the hard rim part with the same mold. This enables a highly versatile rim manufacturing method that does not cause flaking (rubbing).

In addition, the spacer has a covering part that is in close contact with the end of the hard rim part,
The engaging part is embedded in the soft rim part, and the inner periphery of the engaging part is separated from the core metal and hard rim part, so even if there is dimensional error or wobbling in the core metal or hard rim part, the Due to its hardness, it is possible to accurately fit the spacer not only to the covering part but also to the thick connecting part between the engaging part and the covering part (here also the hard rim part), and then inject the soft material. The spacer will not be prevented from adhering to the hard rim due to dimensional errors or wobbling, and the sealing performance will not be impaired.

Furthermore, even if the soft rim part shrinks in the circumferential direction due to shrinkage immediately after molding or shrinkage due to long-term use in a high-temperature atmosphere, the spacer's retaining part is made of a semi-hard material. The engaging part deforms together with the soft material in the direction of contraction of the soft material, and the spacer covers the outer periphery of the hard rim without creating a gap between the soft material and the spacer. Since the spacer is coated, even if the spacer is displaced away from the hard rim part, the overlapping area of the spacer and the hard rim part will only change, and no gap will be created.

Therefore, the spacer also functions as a buffer between the soft rim portion and the hard rim portion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the main part thereof, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views of the main part of other embodiments. 1... Steering wheel, 2...
Core metal, 3... Rim part, 4... Soft rim part, 5... Hard rim part, 6... Spacer 17... - Covering part, 8... Engagement part,
11... Spoke, 12... Operating shaft mounting part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A core metal connected to the attachment part to the actuating shaft via spokes, an annular rim part consisting of a soft rim part and a hard rim part with this core metal inside, and a joint between these hard rim part and soft rim part. a spacer made of a semi-hard material provided in the section, and the spacer has a covering section that covers the entire outer circumference of the end of the hard rim section, and an engaging section that engages with the soft rim section. What is claimed is: 1. A steering wheel characterized in that the steering wheel has a joint part and is embedded in a soft rim part except for the covering part.