JPS6116214Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a protection device for a joint portion that connects a main shaft of a vehicle steering wheel and a shaft (wormshaft) on a gear housing side.

As this protection device, a metallic protective cover is used, which is constructed by joining a semi-cylindrical lower cover fixed to the frame side and a corresponding semi-cylindrical upper cover. This protective cover protects the joint from foreign objects such as flying stones and plants while the vehicle is running. However, there was a risk that a very small pebble would enter the opening of the cover through which the main shaft was inserted, and the pebble would become lodged in the joint. One possible countermeasure to this problem is to set the diameter of the opening of the cover to be smaller, but this is a location where assembly errors are large, and in order to avoid interference between the metallic cover and the main shaft, the cover opening should be set to a smaller diameter. It was necessary to set the diameter of the part large with some margin.

In view of these conventional circumstances, the present invention is a steering joint that allows the gap between the opening of the cover through which the main shaft is inserted and the main shaft to be set small without fear of interference between the opening of the cover and the main shaft. Its purpose is to provide a protective device.

The object of the present invention is to install a ring made of synthetic resin, for example, which has low friction and does not cause any problems even if it interferes with the main shaft, on the inner periphery of the opening of the protective cover through which the main shaft is inserted. This is achieved by fixing it close to the outer peripheral surface.

Next, the configuration of the present invention described above will be explained in detail according to embodiments shown in the drawings.

In FIG. 1, which shows a perspective view of the structure of the gear housing of a vehicle steering wheel, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a steering gear housing 2 is attached to the side surface with bolts. The wormshaft 3 and the main shaft 4, which extend from inside the gear housing 2 to the outside, are connected by a hook joint 5 at a certain joint 5, that is, from the end face of the gear housing 2 to the end of the main shaft 4. The area extending over the area is covered with a protective cover 6.

The protective cover 6 is generally a press-molded metal plate, has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole, and is constructed by joining a lower cover 6A and an upper cover 6B, each of which is formed into a semi-cylindrical shape. Note that the lower cover 6A has a mounting bracket 7 on its lower surface, and this bracket 7
The frame 1 is secured by bolts 8 as shown in the figure.
is fixed on the top surface. Also, lower cover 6A
A hole 9 is provided in the lower surface of the protective cover 6 to immediately discharge muddy water or the like that has entered the protective cover 6 to the outside.

Although the opening 20 on the left side in FIG. 2 of the protective cover 6 is assembled in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the end of the gear housing 2,
The main shaft 4 is inserted through the opening 10 on the right side. The inner diameter of this opening 10 is
The protective cover 6 and the main shaft 4 are formed sufficiently large to avoid mutual interference due to relative assembly error. Therefore, if left as is, there is a risk that very small pebbles or the like may enter the protective cover 6 from between the opening 10 and the main shaft 4 as described above.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a ring 11 made of a material with a low coefficient of friction, such as synthetic resin, can be placed on the inner circumference of the opening 10 and on the outer circumference of the main shaft 4, as is clear from FIG. It is fixed as close as possible. This ring 11 is also divided into a lower cover 6A side and an upper cover 6B side, and is fixed to the protective cover 6 side by a plurality of protrusions 12 integrally formed on the outer periphery of the ring 11. In addition, each of the above protrusions 1
2 has a shape as shown in FIG. 4 before the ring 11 is fixed to the opening 10 of the protective cover 6. After inserting these protrusions 12 into the holes 13 made at corresponding locations on the lower cover 6A and upper cover 6B, each cover 6
The ring 11 is fixed to the opening 10 of the protective cover 6 by heating and deforming the tips of the protrusions 12 on the outside of the protrusions A and 6B.

According to this configuration, even if the main shaft 4 and the ring 11 fixed to the opening 10 of the protective cover 6 interfere, the friction is small, so that the steering operation is not significantly affected. Therefore,
As described above, it is possible to set the gap between the opening 10 and the main shaft 4 small without fearing the above-mentioned interference, although this is a location where assembly errors are large. As a result, very small pebbles can be prevented from entering the protective cover 6 from the opening 10.

In this way, the present invention can prevent extremely small pebbles from entering the protective cover through the opening of the protective cover through which the main shaft is inserted, thereby reducing the lifespan of the steering joint due to extremely small pebbles getting caught in the steering joint. The inconveniences caused by lowering can be solved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a part near the gear housing of a vehicle steering wheel, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow - considering FIG. 2 as a complete view, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 3, showing an exploded state of the protective cover and ring. 2... Steering gear housing, 3... Wormshaft, 4... Main shaft, 5...
Joint, 6...Protective cover, 10...Opening, 11...Ring, 12...Protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a type in which the joint portion connecting the main shaft side of the steering wheel and the shaft extending from inside the gear housing is covered with a protective cover, a material with a low coefficient of friction is applied to the inner periphery of the opening of the protective cover through which the main shaft is inserted. A protection device for a steering joint for a vehicle, characterized in that a ring is fixed to the outer circumferential surface of a main shaft in a state in which it approaches the outer peripheral surface of the main shaft with a slight gap.