JPS6044182B2 - Vehicle steering support device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a steering support device for a vehicle.

A steering wheel is attached to the driver's seat inside the vehicle interior, and the steering wheel is integrated with a steering shaft and a steering column that surrounds it.The steering column is covered with a column cover, and the steering wheel is attached to the bottom of the instrument panel. The steering shaft extends diagonally forward and downward from the front wheel, and the steering shaft is connected to the steering mechanism of the front wheels.

By the way, the steering wheel is located in front of the occupant's chest, which is the most rigid part of the human body, and the steering column is generally suspended below the front of the instrument panel.

In the above, in a high-speed frontal collision, if the entire crash zone of the vehicle crashes, parts that do not crash may inevitably hit the human body.

In such a high-speed frontal collision, the driver collides with the steering wheel as a secondary collision, and although the steering wheel crashes, the center portion remains and may interfere with the human body. This also applies to collapsible steering shaft type vehicles in which the steering wheel strokes in the axial direction, and the center of the steering wheel may interfere with the human body at the end of the stroke. On the other hand, in a high-speed frontal collision, the equipment at the front of the cabin may move backwards due to the crash, and this may interfere with the lower part of the steering shaft or column. There is a tendency for the column to swing around the support part of the steering wheel as a fulcrum, and to perform a soaring motion in which the steering wheel part swings upward.

By the way, if the driver unavoidably interferes with the steering wheel, the center of the steering wheel can hit the human chest, which is stronger than the head, to reduce the degree of interference, but as mentioned above, the steering system Since the steering wheel part has been swung upwards, there is a risk that the part of the body that is outside the chest may interfere with the center of the steering wheel.

The inventors of the present invention have devised the present invention in order to reduce the probability of such a collision occurring at high speed, to ensure that the steering center part is received by the occupant's chest in such a collision, and to suppress the degree of injury to the occupant as much as possible. This is what was done.

An object of the present invention is to support a part of an axial member having a steering wheel at one end on the lower surface of an instrument panel, and also to support the front part of the axial member at a distance from the vehicle body side. The supported axial member is provided with means for guiding the front part of the member upward by interfering with the support part through axial movement, and the above-described upward movement of the steering wheel part is prevented between the guide means and the support part. By correcting this, and when there is unavoidable interference between the center of the steering wheel and the human body, it is caused by the chest, thereby minimizing the degree of injury to the occupants in a frontal collision at high speed. To provide a steering support device for a vehicle.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a steering support device according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a partition wall that partitions a vehicle interior 2 and an engine room 3 in front of the vehicle interior. attached to.

A steering wheel 5 is attached to the driver side of the steering hanger bracket 4 so as to face the rear (front of the driver), and the steering wheel 5 is connected to the rear end of a steering shaft 6 at its center, and the steering shaft 6 is connected to a steering column 7. In the case of the enclosed and integrated collapsible steering shaft type, the shaft 6 can be stroked a certain length within the column 7. A shaft member 8 consisting of the column 7 and shaft 6 extends diagonally forward and downward, and the front end of the shaft 6 extends from the front end of the column 7 and is connected to a steering mechanism. The upper part of the column 7, i.e. the steering wheel 5
The portion near the steering hanger bracket 4 is supported by a U-shaped bracket 9 or the like at the lower part of the interior protrusion of the steering hanger bracket 4. On the other hand, the lower part of the column 7 is supported by a bracket 10 on the front lower surface of the instrument panel or a component of the vehicle body. The bracket 10 is as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and includes a gate-shaped main body 11 fixed to a mounting base 16, and a band-shaped stopper body 12 having a curved intermediate portion 12a installed between the lower ends of the gate-shaped main body 11. The main body 11 includes a horizontally wide step portion 11a.

The front part of the column 7 is provided with a stopper 13 that protrudes left and right.The front part of the column 7 is passed through the gate-shaped main body 11, and both ends 13a of the stopper 13 are connected to both shoulders 11b and 11b of the stepped portion 11a. Place the stopper 12 under the relevant part of the column, connect it to the main body 11 with the bolt 14, and attach the front part of the column to the bracket 1.
0, and the stopper piece 13 restricts the rotation of the column 7. When the column is in its normal position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a guide portion 15 having a guide surface 15a inclined rearward and downward is provided on the lower surface of the column immediately behind the bracket 10. Next, the function and effect will be explained in detail. When the crash zone crashes during a high-speed frontal collision, the driver hits the steering wheel 5 as a secondary collision. In a collapsible type steering mechanism, the steering shaft strokes, but at the end of the stroke, the steering wheel crashes and the shaft 6
The center of the steering wheel supported by the driver hits the driver. In this case, the steering column 7 as a whole moves relatively in the axial direction due to the retreat of the bracket 10, which is the front support part, and as a result, the guide part 15 moves forward and interferes with the stopper 12a. Due to the action of the guide surface 15a of the lever, the front part of the column 7 is
As shown in the figure, the stopper 13 that is lifted up and restricts the rotation of the column 7 escapes from the step shoulder 11b of the bracket body 10 and is located at the front, ensuring that the column 7 can move forward in the axial direction in its normal posture. To ensure that the lifting operation of a guide part 15 is performed. On the other hand, a pushing force is applied to the column 7 via the shaft 6 etc. by a device from the front, and since it is tilted forward, it tries to push down the shaft and the front part of the column. The front portion is lifted by the above-mentioned guide action, and the upward movement of the rear end side of the column 7, that is, the portion of the wheel 5 using the support portion 9 near the steering wheel as a fulcrum, is offset by the above-mentioned guide action. Therefore, the center of the steering wheel is still held in its normal position even after a collision, and the driver's chest interferes with the center, which is stronger than the head of the human body. This means that the impact can be minimized and suppressed. As described above, according to the present invention, in the event of a secondary collision with the center of the driver's steering wheel during a frontal collision at high speed, the position of the steering wheel is maintained normally, and in the event of a secondary collision, the center of the steering wheel is By interfering with this at a part stronger than the human head, the degree of obstruction can be minimized and suppressed.The steering column is supported at two points, and the front It is sufficient to provide a guide part on the column side that interferes with the support part.
It has many advantages, such as being able to achieve the above-mentioned structure simply without making any major changes to the steering mechanism.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the steering support device in normal conditions, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the support, and FIG. 3 is an end cross-section of the assembled state. figure,
Figure 4 is a vertical sectional side view of the same, Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 at the time of collision, Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, and Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 3 of the same. be. In the drawing, 4 is an instrument panel, 6 is a steering shaft, 7 is a steering column, 8 is a shaft member,
9 is a steering wheel side support part, 10 is a front part support part, and 15 is a guide means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Both ends of a steering column, into which a steering shaft having a steering wheel at one end is inserted, are supported on the vehicle body side through brackets, and the front lower surface of the steering column is provided with a front part of the steering column by moving the steering column forward. 1. A steering support device for a vehicle, characterized in that a guide portion is provided for interfering with a bracket supporting the bracket and moving a front portion of the steering column upward along a groove formed in the bracket.