JPS61257359A - Vehicle steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent stress concentration in the hems of fragile sections in a steering wheel, by setting an obtuse angle to the crossing part between each two adjacent fragile sections in the vicinity of spokes, and by moderately connecting the hems of both fragile sections with each other. CONSTITUTION:Three U-like bent fragile sections 15 are radially arranged at equal intervals in an annular space formed between a boss 3 and a spoke attaching section 7. Further, the angle of crossing sections between the fragile sections 15 is made to be obtuse. Further, the hems of each adjacent fragile sections are moderately connected, and a coupling member 9 integrally incorporated with a boss attaching section 5 is arranged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel equipped with a self-lining mechanism.

<Prior art> Conventionally, as for the above-mentioned type of steering wheel, an annular boss is attached to three wooden spokes 11, as seen in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-9764 (see Figs. 6 to 8). A connecting body 9 having five fragile arm portions 15 in the portion 5 was arranged on the boss 3 and the rim 13φ spoke 11 assembly.

When a load is applied to the rim 13 of the steering wheel (Fig. 7), the rim 13 surface tilts approximately perpendicular to the line of action due to plastic deformation of the fragile arm portion 15 (Fig. 8, hereinafter referred to as self-lining action). ).

However, on the other hand, due to design requirements, there is a growing demand for two-spoke type steering wheels.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> When trying to apply the conventional connecting body 9 equipped with five fragile arms 15 to the above-mentioned two-spoke type steering wheel (see FIG. 6), especially when both spokes Since stress concentration tends to occur at the edge of the area where the two weak arms 15 intersect in the vicinity of 11, it was necessary to chamfer or anneale this area to make it durable. In other words, sufficient durability could not be maintained unless the machining accuracy of the area where the two fragile arms 15 intersect in the vicinity of the spoke 11 was improved. Therefore, the number of processing steps has increased.

The present invention solves these problems and eliminates the need for high machining precision at the intersections near the spokes of the fragile arms, reducing the number of machining steps not only for two-spoke steering wheels but also for steering wheels with three or more spokes. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel for a vehicle that does not cause friction.

Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a vehicle steering wheel having the following configuration.

In an annular space formed between a spoke mounting part connected to the rim and spoke assembly and a post, a post mounting part connected to the spoke mounting part and a boss mounting part connected to the spoke mounting part extending radially from the boss mounting part are provided. A connecting body is provided with a plurality of distributed bent fragile arms, and when a load is applied to the rim, the rim surface tilts due to plastic deformation of the fragile arms so as to be substantially perpendicular to the line of action. In the steering wheel configured, the intersecting angle formed by the two fragile arms near the spokes attached to the spoke attachment portions is an obtuse angle, and
It is formed by gently connecting the edges of both fragile arms.

<Examples> Hereinafter, various examples of the present invention will be described based on the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 5). Components that are the same as those in the conventional example are given the same reference numerals and explanations are omitted. In addition, the action of Selfa lining is the seventh
．． This is the same as the conventional example shown in FIG.

First Example (FIGS. 1 to 3) In this example, a two-spoke steering wheel 1 is provided with a connecting body 9 having three fragile arms 15.

The steering wheel 1 of this embodiment is configured as follows. In the annular space formed between the post 3 and the spoke attachment part 7, three fragile arms fi15 bent into a U-shape (see Fig. 2) are evenly distributed radially. A connecting body 9 is provided which is integrally molded with the boss attachment part 5 by making the intersecting angle obtuse and smoothly connecting the edges of adjacent weak arm parts. Then, the boss attachment part 5 of this connecting body 9 is welded to the post 1, and the other end of each fragile arm part 15 is sandwiched between the spokes 11,
The rim 13/spoke 11 connection body and the post 3 are connected by welding to the lower surface of the flat spoke attachment portion 7.

In the above, the fragile arm portion 15 is welded to the lower surface of the spoke attachment portion 7, but the fragile arm portion 15 may be welded to the upper surface of the spoke attachment portion 7. In this case, the U-shaped bend protrudes upward. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the horn pad (not shown) from coming into contact with the bent upper end.
It is necessary to pay attention to the contact between the bent lower end of the letter and the column cover (not shown), and also to adjust the degree of contact with the post 3 when the rim 13 surface is tilted (see FIG. 8).

As described above, the first embodiment naturally exhibits the self-lining effect, and the two adjacent fragile arms 1 near the spokes 11
5 is an obtuse angle, and the edges of both fragile arms 15 are smoothly connected, making it difficult for stress concentration to occur at these parts. Therefore, high machining accuracy is no longer required for the part, and the labor of annealing etc. can be saved. Further, in this embodiment, since there are three fragile arms 15 (compared to five in the past), the number of man-hours for welding to the spoke attachment portions 7 is also reduced.

Furthermore, the fragile arm portion 15 is usually bent into a U-shape by a two-step bending process, but if the bending on the post attachment portion 5 side is made gentler, work hardening is less likely to occur there. This is preferable because the edge of the boss attachment portion 5 and the fragile arm portion 15 have a smooth edge.

FIG. 3 shows a modified form of the first embodiment, in which the center of the weak arm portion 15 on the lower side of the figure is cut out in the longitudinal direction to form a sulin) 17, and a connecting body 9 having four weak arm portions 15 is formed. This is what I did. This also has the same effect as the connecting body 9 shown in FIG.

Second Embodiment (FIG. 4) In this embodiment, a three-spoke steering wheel 1 is provided with a connecting body 9 having three fragile arms 15.

In this embodiment, since the connection between each spoke 11 and the spoke attachment portion 7 is sandwiched between the fragile arm portions 15, the connecting body 9 is rotated 180 degrees from the first embodiment and the spoke attachment portion 7 is Since the fragile arm portions 15 are arranged at obtuse angles, and the edges of these portions are gently formed, the operation is the same as in the first embodiment.

Third Embodiment (FIG. 5) In this embodiment, a connecting body 9 provided with four fragile arms 15 is applied to a two-spoke steering wheel 1.

This corresponds to the upper two weak arms 15 in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment.
It is divided into three equal parts. Therefore, the effort required to weld the connecting body 9 to the spoke attachment body 7 increases by one fragile arm 15, but the intersecting angle formed by the two adjacent fragile arms 15 near the welding of the spoke 11 is an obtuse angle, and Since the edge between both fragile arm portions 15 is formed gently,
It has the same effect as the first embodiment.

As described above, in the present invention, the normal steering wheel 1
In the case of a type having two or three spokes 11,
The number of fragile arms 15 is preferably three or four. This is because even if the number of fragile arms 15 is increased further, the intersecting angle formed by the two fragile arms 15 near the spokes 11 cannot be made obtuse, and welding will take more effort.

As is clear from the figure, if the intersecting angle between the adjacent weak arms 15 in the vicinity of the weld of the spoke 11 is obtuse, and the edges are gently formed, the number of weak arms 15 will be reduced. Alternatively, the size may be changed arbitrarily.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, the present invention provides two
Since the intersecting portions formed by two adjacent fragile arms are at an obtuse angle, and the edges of both fragile arms are gently connected to form a connected body, stress concentration is less likely to occur at the edges. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to form the edge portion with high processing accuracy, and the number of processing steps can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show the structure of the steering wheel, particularly the connecting body, and FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment (I-I in FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a modification of the first embodiment with the rim and spoke assembly omitted, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the third embodiment. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the conventional example, and FIG. 7 is a side view before load is applied. FIG. 8 is a side view after the load is applied. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Steering wheel, 3... Boss, 5... Boss attachment part, 7... Spoke attachment part, 9... Connecting body, 11... Spoke, 13... Rim, 15... ...Weak arm. Patent applicant Figure 2 \1 1715b M'+

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In an annular space formed between a spoke attachment part connected to the rim and spoke assembly and the boss, a boss attachment part connected to the boss and a boss attachment part connected to the spoke attachment part are connected to the boss. A connecting body is provided with a plurality of bent fragile arms distributed radially from the boss attachment portion, and when a load is applied to the rim, the rim surface tilts due to plastic deformation of the fragile arms. In a steering wheel configured to be substantially perpendicular to the line of action, an intersecting angle formed by two adjacent fragile arms near the spokes attached to the spoke attachment portion is an obtuse angle;
A steering wheel for a vehicle, characterized in that the connecting body is formed by gently connecting the edges of both fragile arm portions.