JPS63115728A - Manufacture of core material of steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a core material superior in fluttering characteristics, by a method wherein a weight is incorporated in the vicinity of a ring part and the same is unified, in a process of manufacturing the core material of a steering wheel of fiber-reinforced resin by winding round a resin-impregnated long fiber. CONSTITUTION:Simultaneously with molding a weight 21 is stuck in the vicinity of a ring part, by a method wherein the weight 21 is kept incorporated in a ring part W1 of mold jigs 1, 2 or a spoke part W2 which is a little close to the said ring part, in a process of manufacturing a core material of a steering wheel made of fiber-reinforced resin (FRP) constituted of a ring part W1, spoke part W2 and boss part W3 by winding a resin-impregnated long fiber round the mold jigs 1, 2 and boss metal fittings 5 and curing the same through heating. As a weight of the ring part is increased due to the weight 21, an oscillation in a peripheral direction of a handle is reduced and fluttering characteristics are improved. Sticking of the weight also can be performed simultaneously with the molding and manufacturing is easy also.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a fiber reinforced resin (FRP) steering wheel core material.

(Conventional technology) One of the manufacturing methods for FRP steering wheel core material is
There is a method in which long fibers impregnated with resin are continuously wound and integrally molded (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 81-183838).

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, this method consists of a mold jig l for a flat plate part 1 which forms a circumferential groove 3 having a substantially semicircular cross section when overlapped, and a mold jig l which is divided into a plurality of parts in the circumferential direction. 2 mold jig 2
These are integrally and removably fixed in advance to the rotating shaft 4, and a boss fitting 5 is removably fixed to the tip of the rotating shaft 4 extending on the first mold jig l, and the rotating While rotating the shaft 4, the long fibers impregnated with resin are passed through the gap 2a of the second mold jig 2 from the circumferential groove 3 to the boss metal fitting 5.
Then, it is continuously wound from the boss metal fitting 5 to the circumferential groove 3, and then subjected to a heat curing treatment. After the heat curing treatment, first the second mold jig 2 is demolded, and then the first mold jig 1 is demolded, so that the ring portion Wt and the spoke portion A steering wheel core material W having the W2 and the boss portion 3 integrally can be obtained.

The steering wheel core material W thus obtained is manufactured into a product by coating it with urethane resin and applying a skin, for example, and the product (steering wheel)
Not only is it lightweight and has high strength, but it also has excellent collision safety, and has particularly excellent vertical vibration, or shake characteristics. However, such a steering wheel has a small moment of inertia due to its light weight, and therefore has a disadvantage in that it has poor bicircumferential vibration, that is, flutter characteristics.

As a countermeasure against flutter, conventional methods have been to attach weights to the ring part Wl of the steering wheel core material W that has been manufactured as described above or to the branching part between the ring part Wl and the spokes gBW2 (Fig. 7), or to add long fibers during the manufacturing process. The moment of inertia has been increased by increasing the number of turns and increasing the weight of the ring portion W1.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, according to the above measures for attaching weights,
Regardless of whether the weight is attached using an adhesive or mechanically, extra man-hours are required to attach the weight, resulting in an increase in the cycle time of steering wheel manufacturing. According to the above-mentioned measure to increase the number of turns of long fibers, since the specific gravity of FRP itself is small, trying to obtain the desired weight will result in a significant increase in the volume of the ring part νl, compressing the space around the mounted steering wheel. Not only this, but also a problem arises in that the steering characteristics are impaired due to an unbalance in strength with the slender spoke portion W2.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention involves winding long fibers impregnated with resin between a boss metal fitting and a mold jig for molding a ring part, and In a method of manufacturing a steering wheel core material integrally having a ring part, a spoke part, and a boss part by performing a heat-curing treatment, the ring has been wound once by inserting a weight into a part of the molding jig. The gist is that the weight is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the spoke part near the ring part or the ring part.

In the present invention, the long fibers and the resin impregnated therein are of any type; for example, the long fibers may be selected from glass fibers, carbon fibers, etc., and the resin may be selected from polynistyl resin, epoxy resin, etc. Can be done.

Further, the shape of the weight is desirably such that it can be easily attached to the ring portion or the spoke portion, and may be, for example, a double-shaped cross section or a semicircular cross section. Further, when the weight is attached to the ring portion, it may be attached continuously over the entire circumference of the spoke portion, or it may be attached intermittently in the circumferential direction.

(Function) In the method for manufacturing a steering wheel core material having the above configuration, a weight is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the ring portion or the spoke portion near the ring portion after winding of the long tam impregnated with resin. In the subsequent heat curing process,
The weight is fixed by the adhesive force of the resin, and the process of separately attaching the weight can be omitted. Furthermore, when attaching weights to spoke portions, etc., the weights are incorporated into a part of the forming jig, so that the weights can be attached easily and reliably.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the sardine drawings. Note that the method for manufacturing the steering wheel core material described in the following examples is basically the same as that explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 above, so here, in the drawings,
Identical parts are given the same reference numerals, and only the essential parts will be explained.

FIG. 1 shows the shape of the weight used in the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the weight indicated by 11 is
It has a square groove 12 and is formed into a double-shaped cross section. Square groove 1
The width A and the depth B of 2 are approximately equal to the outer diameter of the spoke portion W2 (see FIGS. 6 and 7), which has just finished winding the desired number of long fibers.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, one end of the way 11 is fitted in advance into the second mold jig 2 constituting the mold jig for forming the spoke part, so as to overlap the gap 2a. Groove 1
3, the groove 13 has an inclined bottom surface (step surface) 13a that matches the angle of inclination of the spoke part 2 from the circumferential groove 3 toward the boss fitting 5 (FIGS. 5 and 6). A part of the open side end surface of the way 11 can be seated on this inclined bottom surface 13a.

Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the groove! A presser jig 14 is provided for pressing the weight 11 fitted (in a set state) in the way 3 against the mold jig, and this presser jig 14 can come into contact with the back surface of the weight 11. It includes a holding plate part 15 and a guide part l@ that can be inserted into the gap 2a of the second mold jig 2, and the guide part 16
It has a relief part 17 that allows the spoke part Wl to pass therethrough, and can be removably fixed to the first mold jig 2 by a fastening means (not shown).

With the above jig configuration, first, the long filament impregnated with resin is continuously wound from the circumferential groove 3 to the boss metal fitting 5, and from the boss metal fitting 5 to the circumferential groove 3. Immediately after winding the long fibers to form part W2 and part part 3 (Fig. 6), attach the way 11 from above to the spoke part W2 and attach the end part to the second part. Next, the way 11 in the set state is held down by the holding jig 14 and attached to the second mold jig 2 (FIG. 2).

After completing the installation of the above-mentioned way) 11 and presser jig 14, these are supplied to a curing furnace and subjected to heat curing treatment (for example,
00° C. x 2 hours), and then the weight 11 is fixed to the spoke portion w2 by the adhesive force of the resin of the matrix. Therefore, the presser jig 14 is then removed, and the first. When the second mold jigs 1 and 2 are removed from the mold, the weight 11 is integrally held near the ring portion of the spoke portion W2 of the steering wheel core W.

In addition, the above weight is 1! When using the weight 11, if the inner surface of the square groove 12 of the way 11 is coated with sheet brass in advance, the joint strength can be further improved and the weight 11 can be held securely.

FIG. 3 shows the shape of the weight used in the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the weight indicated by 21 is formed as a ring having a semicircular cross section. Further, the weight 21 has a slit 22 in a part of its circumferential direction.
The diameter can be expanded or contracted freely by dividing it by. on the other hand,
1st. As shown in FIG. 4, the second mold jigs 1 and 2 include
In order to form a semicircular groove 23 within the circumferential groove 2,
The groove 23, which is provided with a step in advance, is connected to the weight 2.
1 for storing the stored weight 21.
The depth is exactly equal to the thickness of the weight 21 so that the surface thereof does not protrude into the circumferential groove 3.

As a result, when long fibers impregnated with resin are wound in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and then heat-cured, the weight 21 is fixed to the ring portion w1 due to the adhesive force of the resin, and the steering wheel core Ring part l111 of material W
In this case, the way 21 is held integrally.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, in the method for manufacturing a steering wheel core material according to the present invention, winding of the resin-impregnated long fibers is completed. Since the weight is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the ring part or the spoke part near the ring part, the weight can be fixed to the ring part etc. by the adhesive force of the resin in the subsequent heat curing treatment. As a result, the man-hours required to separately attach weights can be omitted, and a steering wheel with excellent flutter characteristics can be manufactured with high efficiency.

Moreover, since the weight was incorporated into a part of the molding jig, the effect that the weight could be easily and reliably attached was obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the shape of a weight used in the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing a jig structure that allows the use of the weight, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing another example of the shape of the weight. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a jig structure that allows the use of the weight shown in FIG. 3, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view and a front view showing the basics of usage, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the shape of the steering wheel core material manufactured using the jig. 1.2... Mold jig 5... Boss fitting 11.21... Weight Wl... Ring part W2... Spoke part W3... Boss part Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A steering wheel that has a ring, spokes, and boss in one piece is made by winding long fibers impregnated with resin between a boss metal fitting and a molding jig for molding the ring part, and then subjecting the fibers to heat curing treatment. The method for manufacturing a core material is characterized in that by incorporating a weight into a part of the molding jig, the weight is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the ring portion after the winding or the spoke portion near the ring portion. A method for manufacturing a steering wheel core material.