JPS6225970Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to an energy absorbing steering device.

Conventionally, there are various types of energy absorbing steering devices, but each type has a large number of component parts and tends to have a complicated structure, resulting in high cost.

For this reason, an energy absorbing steering device that can reduce the number of component parts and reduce costs was devised by the same applicant in U.S. Pat. No. 73,933/1983. In this case, the bending deformation of the deformation plate (support plate) of the energy absorption bracket (support bracket) that supports the tip of the column tube causes
It is described that the collision energy of the next collision is absorbed. Furthermore, it is described that a protruding ring into which a column tube is inserted is provided protrudingly on the plate surface of the deformable plate, and the upper part of the protruding ring and the upper outer circumferential surface of the column tube are welded and fixed. However, if a protruding ring is provided on the plate surface of the deformable plate and the column tube is press-fitted into the through hole of the protruding ring, the column tube can be stably supported during normal driving. In the event of a secondary collision, the frictional force and twisting generated between the lower part of the protrusion ring and the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the column tube prevent the column tube from moving in the axial direction.
In some cases, the energy absorption characteristics (mainly caused by bending deformation of the deformed plate) are adversely affected. That is,
Immediately after the column tube started moving in the axial direction, the deformation load on the protruding ring reached its maximum value, and then it sometimes decreased rapidly, making it difficult to obtain stable energy absorption characteristics and tending to cause variations. .

In view of the above-mentioned reasons, the purpose of this invention is to provide an energy absorbing steering device that can stably and smoothly absorb the energy of the secondary collision load on the steering wheel mainly by bending and deforming the deforming plate. That's true.

The feature of this invention is that when a secondary collision load acts on the steering wheel and the column tube moves in the axial direction, the lower part of the protruding ring of the deformation plate is made more rigid so that the lower part of the protruding ring is easily deformed. It's there to set it small.

An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 showing the energy absorbing steering device, a steering wheel 3 is attached to the tip of a main shaft 2 housed in a column tube 1, and the base end of the shaft 2 is attached to a first joint 4, an intermediary date shaft 5 and 2nd
It is connected to a steering gear 7 via a joint 6.

The column tube 1 is supported at its base by a clamp bracket 8 so as to be movable in the axial direction.
The tip of the column tube 1 is supported by an energy absorbing bracket 12.

The clamp bracket 8 is as shown in FIG.
A bracket main body 9 is fixed to a support bracket B of the vehicle body to support the upper half of the outer peripheral surface of the column tube 1, and a bracket main body 9 is fastened to the lower surface of the main body 9 with bolts or the like to support the lower half of the outer peripheral surface of the column tube 1. A bearing bush 11 is interposed between the column tube 1 and the main shaft 2 at the position where the clamp bracket 8 is disposed.

The energy absorbing bracket 12 is mainly composed of a bracket body 13 and a deformable plate 14. The bracket main body 13 has a U-shaped cross section spanning the outer peripheral surface of the column tube 1, and has mounting plates 13a folded at both ends thereof, which are fixed to the support bracket B of the vehicle body with bolts or the like. A song is formed. Bracket body 1
A deformable plate 14 is protruded from at least one end face of both end faces of the bottom plate part 3 so as to be bendable about a bending part 14a at the lower end thereof, and a column is provided at the center of the plate surface of the deformable plate 14. A projecting ring 15 having a through hole 16 into which the tube 1 is press-fitted is provided. Slit-like grooves 17, 17 are formed at two upper parts of the protruding ring 15, and these grooves 17, 17 allow the protruding ring 15 to be formed into an upper protruding ring part 15a and a lower protruding ring part 15b. It is divided into. The tip of the upper protruding ring part 15a and the upper part of the outer peripheral surface of the column tube 1 are fixed by welding 18.

When a secondary collision load acts on the steering wheel 3 and the column tube 1 moves in the axial direction, the rigidity of the lower protruding ring portion 15b of the protruding wheel 15 is set to be small so that the lower protruding ring portion 15b of the protruding wheel 15 is easily deformed. has been done. In this embodiment, the lower projecting ring portion 15b
Deformed plate 1 near the root of the lower outer peripheral surface of
An arc-shaped long hole 19 is provided through the plate surface of 4.
The elongated hole 19 reduces the rigidity of the lower protruding ring portion 15b.

Further, the deformable plate 14 is provided with ribs on both left and right edges so that the deformable plate 14 is bent and deformed in the front and back direction using the bent portion 14a at the lower end as a fulcrum.
4b is bent. Further, the deformation plate 14 is provided so as to be inclined by a predetermined angle toward the distal end of the column tube 1 from a direction perpendicular to the center line of the column tube 1 so that its deformation stroke becomes large.

In the above configuration, in the event of a head-on collision or rear-end collision of a vehicle, an occupant will have a secondary collision with the steering wheel 3, and the excessive collision load will be transferred to the column tube 1.
When the column tube 1 acts in the direction of pushing forward in the axial direction, the column tube 1
The deformable plate 14 is moved while being bent and deformed using 4a as a fulcrum. At this time, the lower protruding ring part 15b of the protruding ring 15 is easily deformed as the column tube 1 moves, and is prevented from interfering with the movement of the column tube 1. Since the energy absorption of the collision load of the secondary collision is mainly performed by bending and deforming the deformable plate 14, stable and smooth energy absorption characteristics can always be obtained.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the deformed plate 1
In order to set the rigidity of the lower protruding ring portion 15b of the protruding ring 15 provided at the lower protruding ring portion 15b to be small, the deformed plate 14 is
Although the arc-shaped elongated hole 19 is formed through the plate surface of the deformed plate 14, the present invention is not limited thereto.As shown in FIG. A plurality of through holes 20 to 20 may be formed to reduce the rigidity of the lower protrusion portion 15b. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of slit-like grooves 21 to 21 may be formed in the lower protruding ring part 15b to reduce the rigidity of the lower protruding ring part 15b.

In other words, in this invention, a projecting ring having a through hole into which the column tube is press-fitted is provided on the plate surface of the deformable plate of the energy absorbing member, so that the column tube can be stably supported during normal operation. can.

Moreover, the rigidity of the lower part of the protruding ring is set small so that the lower part of the protruding ring is easily deformed.
When a secondary collision load acts on the steering wheel and the column tube moves in the axial direction, it is possible to reduce the frictional force and twisting that occurs between the lower part of the protrusion wheel and the lower part of the outer peripheral surface of the column tube. The tube smoothly moves in the axial direction while bending and deforming the deformable plate. Therefore, the energy of the secondary collision load applied to the steering wheel can be absorbed stably and smoothly mainly through the bending deformation of the deformable plate, resulting in excellent energy absorption characteristics.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing shows one embodiment of this invention.
Figure 2 is a side view showing the energy absorbing steering device, Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line - - in Figure 1, Figure 3 is an enlarged side sectional view showing the column tube supported by the energy absorbing bracket, FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the energy absorption bracket, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are front views of other embodiments of the energy absorption bracket. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Column tube, 2... Main shaft, 3... Steering wheel, 8... Clamp bracket, 12... Energy absorption bracket, 13... Bracket body, 14... Deformation plate, 15... Projection wheel, 15a ...Upper protrusion, 1
5b...Lower protrusion portion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An energy absorption steering device, wherein the base of a column tube housing a main shaft having a steering wheel at its tip is supported movably in the axial direction by a clamp bracket, and the tip of the column tube is supported by an energy absorption bracket. The energy absorption bracket includes a bracket main body that is fixed at a predetermined position on the vehicle body, and a deformable plate protruding from the lower part of the main body, and a column is provided on the plate surface of the deformable plate. A protruding ring having a through hole into which the tube is press-fitted is provided, and the upper part of the protruding ring is fixed to the upper outer circumferential surface of the column tube, while a secondary collision load is applied to the steering wheel and the column tube is An energy absorbing steering device characterized in that the lower part of the protruding wheel is set to have a small rigidity so that the lower part of the protruding ring is easily deformed when moving in the direction.