JPS602227B2 - tilt handle device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tilt steering wheel device that allows the position of a steering wheel to be adjusted up or down by changing the mirror inclination of a steering column. This invention relates to a tilt handle device connected via two universal joints.

A conventional tilt steering wheel of this type will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. The lower end of a steering column 1 is supported on a vehicle body 3 by a pivot 2.

A column bracket 4 is attached to the middle of the column 1, and a pin 5 attached to the tip of the bracket 4 slides along an arc-shaped long groove 7 formed in the bracket 6 of the vehicle body 3. It is designed to guide you by moving. A locking mechanism (not shown) is provided between the pin 5 and the long groove 7, so that the column 1 can be locked at an appropriate forehead oblique position. A steering shaft 9 having a steering wheel 8 attached to its upper end passes through the column 1 and is rotatably supported by the column 1. A steering gear 10 is supported on the vehicle body 3 , and the upper end of an input shaft 11 of the steering gear 10 projects into a vehicle interior 12 .

An intermediate shaft 13 is provided between the steering shaft 9 and the input shaft 11 of the steering gear 10, and between the lower end of the steering shaft 9 and one end of the intermediate shaft 13, and between the upper end of the input shaft 11 and the intermediate shaft 13. They are connected to the other end by universal joints 14 and 15, respectively. With this configuration, when the steering wheel 8 is rotated, the operating force is transmitted to the steering gear 10 via the steering shaft 9, the universal joint 14, the intermediate shaft 13, the universal joint 15, and the input shaft 11. The wheels are steered by.

When changing the height position of the steering wheel 8 in order to make it easier to get on and off the vehicle or to find a driving position that suits the driver, remove the locking mechanism between the brackets 4 and 6 and move the steering wheel 8 upward. Or move it downward. Then, the steering column 1 rotates up and down around the pivot 2, so the steering wheel 8
The position can be adjusted up or down. When the brackets 4 and 6 are locked at an appropriate position on the steering wheel 8 and a steering operation is performed, the operating force is transferred to the universal joint 1.
The steering gear is transmitted by 4 and 15.
By the way, in such a tilt handle device,
Universal joint 14 from end face & pupil A of steering wheel 8
Since the distance to the center point B cannot be increased, if the amount of vertical adjustment of the steering wheel 8 is to be increased, the amount of tilt of the column 1 must be increased.

However, as the angle formed by the steering shaft 9 and the intermediate shaft 13 becomes larger, the angle approaches the design limit angle of the universal joint 14, so the amount of tilt of the column 1 cannot be increased very much. Therefore, the amount by which the steering wheel 8 can be adjusted up and down is restricted. Also, for example, when the steering wheel 8 is lowered and the steering shaft 9 and intermediate shaft 13 are displaced from the state shown by the solid line in FIG. On the other hand, the angle formed by the input shaft 11 of the steering gear 10 and the intermediate shaft 13 decreases from 8 to 8'. Therefore, a large difference occurs between the amount of change in these angles Q'-Q and 8'-8, and the constant velocity achieved by the two universal joints is lost. That is, even if the steering wheel 8 is rotated by the same angle, the amount of steering of the wheels will be different, resulting in poor steering feel. Furthermore, in such a tilt steering wheel device, the steering shaft 9 rotates around the pivot shaft 2 as the steering wheel 8 moves up and down, whereas the intermediate shaft 13 rotates around the center point C of the universal joint 15. Therefore, mutual interference occurs at the center point B of the universal joint 14.

Therefore, in the past, an expensive expandable joint was provided between points B and C, or a mechanism was provided to allow the steering shaft 9 to slide in all directions relative to the column by the amount of interference. The present invention was made in view of the problems in the conventional tilt handle device as described above, and its purpose is to provide a system that hardly interferes with the constant velocity and performance of the two universal joints. To provide a tilt handle device which allows a steering wheel to be largely adjusted up and down and which does not cause interference between a steering shaft and an intermediate shaft.

If the steering force is always transmitted at a constant velocity in this way, no matter how you change the vertical position of the steering wheel, the relationship will always be constant depending on the amount of steering wheel operation. The amount of steering can be obtained,
The steering wheel feel no longer differs depending on the vertical position of the steering wheel.

Further, if no interference occurs between the steering shaft and the intermediate shaft, there is no need to provide a special mechanism for relieving the interference, and an inexpensive tilt handle device can be obtained. Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, the parts other than the connecting portion of the steering column 1 to the vehicle body 3 are the same as the conventional one shown in FIG. 1. Because of the configuration, similar components are given the same reference numerals.

A steering shaft 9 having a steering wheel 8 attached to its upper end passes through the steering column 1 and is rotatably supported by the steering column 1. The lower end of this shaft 9 is connected to one end of an intermediate shaft 13 via a universal joint 14, and the end of the intermediate shaft 13 is connected to a universal joint 16.
It is connected to the upper end of the input shaft 11 of the steering gear 10 via. The steering gear 10 is supported by the vehicle body 3, and the upper end of its input shaft 11 projects into the vehicle interior 12. A pin 5 is provided at the tip of a column bracket 4 attached to the middle part of the column 1, and this pin 5 is slidably guided along a guide groove 7 provided in a bracket 6 of the vehicle body 3. At the same time, its sliding movement is locked by an appropriate locking mechanism (not shown). The lower end of the steering column 1 and a vehicle body bracket 21 attached to the vehicle body 3 at a position slightly lower than this are connected by connecting links 22 pivotally attached to each. The basic structure of this pivot joint will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The bracket 21 is a U-shaped bracket consisting of a rectangular base 23 and legs 24, 24 on both sides. , bolts 26, 26 pass through two through holes 25, 25 provided at diagonal positions.
It is fixed to the vehicle body 3 by. The legs 24, 24 include
Pivot holes 27, 27 are provided respectively. Slightly above the position corresponding to this bracket 21 on the steering column 1 (to the right in FIG. 3), a column bracket 30 consisting of an upper bracket 28 and a lower bracket 29 is fastened to the column 1 by bolts 31. has been done.

A stopper 32 is formed on the upper surface of the upper bracket 28 and projects therefrom. In addition, the upper bracket 28
Bolt holes 33, 33 are provided on both sides of the column 1 slightly above the central axis of the column 1. The connecting link 22 is
It consists of link parts 34, 34 extending on both sides of the column 1, and a connecting part 35 connecting the link parts 34, 34 on the upper surface of the column 1.

The central portion of the connecting portion 35 is formed into a convex arc shape, and this abuts against the stopper 32 of the bracket 30 to prevent the column 1 from becoming larger than a certain amount.
Tapered holes 3 are provided at both ends of the link portions 34, 34, respectively.
6, 36: 37, 37 are formed, and a stepped pivot bolt 39 is fitted into the tapered hole 36 (FIG. 4) at the upper end via a tapered bush 38, and this pivot bolt 39 fits into the bolt hole of the bracket 30. It has been concluded in 33. The taper hole 37 (Fig. 5) at the lower end has a taper push 4.
0, a stepped pivot bolt 41 is connected to the vehicle body bracket 21, and this pivot bolt 41 passes through the pivot hole 27 of the vehicle body bracket 21 and is fastened with a nut 42. Therefore, the connecting link 22 is connected to the pivot bolt 3
The center P of the pivot bolt 9 and the center Q of the pivot bolt 41 are pivot points, and the pivot bolt 41 is pivoted to the steering column 1 and the vehicle body 3, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, a straight line connecting the pivot points P and Q at both ends of the connecting link 22 is always connected to the intermediate shaft 1 when the column 1 pivots within a predetermined range.
It is made to intersect with 3. That is, the positions of the bolt holes 33 of the column bracket 30 and the pivot holes 27 of the vehicle body bracket 21 are determined so that the centers P and Q of the pivot bolts 39 and 41 are at such positions. Therefore, the center points B, C and points Q, P of the universal joints 14, 15 form a concave quadrilateral. Since point C and point Q are fixed to the vehicle body, intermediate shaft 1
3. The steering shaft 9 and the connecting link 22 constitute a four-decoration link mechanism BC, BP, PQ, and CQ. Next, to explain the operation of the above embodiment, when the steering wheel 8 is in the state shown by the solid line in FIG.
When the steering wheel is rotated, the operating force is transmitted through the steering gear, and the wheels are steered, as in the conventional case.

If the lock between the brackets 4 and 6 is released and the wheel 8 is lowered to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 13 rotates around point C.
As a result, the steering shaft 9 and the intermediate shaft 1
3 is displaced to the position indicated by the chain line in FIG. At this time, the steering shaft 9, intermediate shaft 13, and connecting link 22 act as a four-decoration link mechanism with CQ as a fixed node, so their displacement position is uniquely determined, and there is no interference in any part. Does not occur. And connecting link 2
The straight line connecting the attachment points P and Q at both ends of 2 is the intermediate shaft 13
Therefore, the intermediate shaft 13 and the connecting link 22 rotate in the same direction, and the rotation angle of the connecting link 22 is larger. Therefore, the angle formed by the steering shaft 9 and the intermediate shaft 13 is from Q to Q.
As the angle increases from 8 to 3', the angle formed between the input shaft 11 of the steering gear 10 and the intermediate shaft 13 also increases from 8 to 3'. The moving angle of the steering shaft 9, that is, the moving angle of the steering column 1 is the sum of these angle changes, that is, (Q'-Q) + (8'-8), so each angle change is Even if it is small, the amount of tilt of the steering column 1 becomes large, and the amount of vertical adjustment of the steering wheel 8 can be increased. Furthermore, with such a configuration, the amounts of change Q'-Q and 8'-B in the angles formed by the intermediate shaft 13 with the steering shaft 9 and the input shaft 11, respectively, are approximately equal. Therefore, the constant velocity due to the two universal joints 14 and 15 is
It is almost maintained regardless of the position of the steering wheel 8. Therefore, if the vertical position of the steering wheel 8 is adjusted appropriately, the brackets 4 and 6 are locked, and the steering operation is performed in this state, the steering wheel feeling will hardly change and smooth steering operations can be performed. . During this period, the uppermost pupil of the steering wheel 8 is regulated by the connecting portion 35 of the connecting link 22 coming into contact with the stopper 32 of the column bracket 30. The pin 5 of the column bracket 4 is regulated by coming into contact with the dropping end of the long groove 7 of the bracket 6. As described above, according to the present invention, the steering column that supports the steering shaft and the vehicle body side are connected by a connecting link, and the intermediate shaft that transmits steering operation force from the steering shaft to the steering gear acts as a link. Therefore, the steering shaft, intermediate shaft, and connecting link together with the vehicle body form a 4-decoration link mechanism, and when adjusting the vertical position of the steering wheel, that is, when adjusting the steering shaft, interference occurs in any part. will disappear.

Therefore, there is no need to provide special mechanisms such as expensive expandable joints as in conventional systems, and the configuration can be simplified by just slightly modifying the configuration of the pivot point of the steering column to the vehicle body in conventional systems. Thus, an inexpensive tilt handle device can be obtained. In addition, since the straight line connecting the pivot points at both ends of the connecting link always intersects with the intermediate shaft within the tilt range of the steering column, the rotating direction of the intermediate shaft is equal to the rotational direction of the steering shaft. The amount of change in the angle that the intermediate shaft makes with the steering gear and the angle that the steering shaft makes with the intermediate shaft is 4.
At the very least, the tilt angle that the steering shaft makes with respect to the vehicle body increases, and the amount of vertical adjustment of the steering wheel can be increased even in a narrow vehicle interior.

Therefore, the degree of freedom in the design of the two universal joints is also increased. Furthermore, since the amount of change in the angle that the intermediate shaft makes with respect to the steering gear and the amount of change in the angle that the steering shaft makes with respect to the intermediate shaft are always approximately equal, the constant velocity caused by the two universal joints is always almost constant. Thus, it is possible to obtain a tilt steering wheel device that can be operated with a constant steering feel regardless of the vertical position of the steering wheel.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing a conventional tilt handle device, Fig. 2 is a schematic side view diagrammatically showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the diamond part in Fig. 2. Detailed view, Figure 4,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line NN, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 3. 1... Steering column, 3... Vehicle body, 8... Steering wheel, 9... Steering shaft, 10... Steering gear, 13..."
Intermediate shaft, 14, 15... Universal joint, 22...
...Connection link, B, C... Universal joint 14
, 15 center point, P, Q... Pivot points at both ends of the connecting link 22. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering shaft 9 with a steering wheel 8 attached to the upper end; a steering gear 10 supported by the vehicle body 3; and a universal joint 14, 15 provided at both ends, respectively, between the steering shaft 9 and the steering gear 10. intermediate shaft 13 connected via
and: a steering column 1 that rotatably supports the steering shaft 9; both ends of the steering column 1 are pivotally connected to the lower end of the steering column 1 and the vehicle body 3 side slightly below this, and the pivot points of both ends are connected. A tilt handle device comprising: a connecting link 22 arranged so that a straight line intersects with the intermediate shaft 13;