JPS6353065B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a horn device for a steering wheel for a vehicle such as an automobile.

[Technical background of the invention]

Conventionally, many devices of this type have been used, such as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. That is, the steering wheel 1 has a steering wheel body 2 and a pad 3. The steering wheel body 2 includes a grip portion 6 in which a rim core metal 4 is covered with an outer skin 5, a spoke core metal 7 welded to the rim core metal 4 and an outer skin 8.
The spoke part 9 is covered with a spoke part 9, and the boss part 12 is a boss part 12 in which a boss 10 welded to the spoke core metal 7 is covered with an outer skin 11, and an attachment part 13 is formed in the middle of the spoke part 9. Furthermore, a mounting boss 14 for the mounting portion 13 is provided on the lower surface of the pad 3 in a protruding manner. A pad 3 is disposed to cover the spoke portions 9 and the boss portion 12 of the steering wheel body 2, and a screw 15 is screwed from the attachment portion 13 to the attachment boss portion 14.

A horn device 16 is provided on the pad 3 portion. This horn device 16 is connected to the pad 3
A horn button 17 is provided at the end of the horn button 17 so as to be able to move forward and backward, and a horn spring 18 and a contact plate 19 opposed to the horn spring 18 are provided below the horn button 17. A mounting plate 20 is provided and connected to the spoke core metal 7, and a slip ring 21 connected to the horn spring 18 is provided to the boss portion 12, and a horn blowing mechanism (not shown) is attached to the slip ring 21. are connected via a slider.

When the operator presses the horn button 17, the horn spring 18 bends and contacts the contact plate 19, and the electric circuit of the slip ring 21, horn spring 18, contact plate 19, mounting plate 20, spoke core bar 7, and post 10 is activated. I can,
The horn blowing mechanism is energized and blows.

[Problems with background technology]

In the case of such a horn device, the open/close switch is formed by the contact between the horn spring and the contact plate, so the stroke of the horn button may vary depending on the assembled state, and due to the mechanical structure, it may not be possible to use it for a long time. Occasionally, the horn may become sluggish due to causes such as a broken horn spring or carbon adhering to the contact surface between the horn spring and the contact plate.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention aims to solve these problems, and by making the horn operating section non-contact electrical, it is intended to operate stably during long-term use.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a horn operating device as described above, in which a horn button is provided in a pad portion of a steering wheel so that it can be pressed freely, and a horn blowing mechanism is operated by blocking an optical path from a light emitting element to a light receiving element below the horn button. A light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are arranged opposite to each other with an interval, and a light-shielding part is provided below the horn button to block an optical path from the light-emitting element to the light-receiving element when the horn button is pressed. It uses a non-contact electric method to blow the horn.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings from FIG. 3 onwards. In addition, steering wheel 1
The structures of the steering wheel main body 2 and the pad 3 forming the steering wheel body 2 are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the explanation will be omitted.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, 31 is a horn device, and this horn device 31 has a horn button 34 which is provided in a window 32 at the end of the pad 3 and has an edge piece 33 on the inner edge so that it can move forward and backward. A plate-shaped light shielding part 35 is integrally provided at the center of the lower part of the horn button 34. Further, a support frame 37 is attached to the lower part of the pad 3 below the horn button 34 with screws 36, and a gap 38 is formed in the support frame 37 through which the light shielding part 35 advances and retreats. A light emitting element 39 and a light receiving element 40 are disposed facing each other, and a coiled spring 41 is stretched between the horn button 34 and the support frame 37. Further, a horn actuating device 42 connected to the light emitting element 39 and the light receiving element 40 is provided near the boss portion 12 of the steering wheel body 2, and the horn actuating device 42 is provided at the outer lower part of the boss portion 12. Slip rings 43, 44 are provided which are connected to. Note that a horn blowing mechanism is connected to the slip rings 43 and 44.

When the horn button 34 is pressed, the light shielding part 35 enters the gap 38 of the support frame 37 and blocks the light passing from the light emitting element 39 to the light receiving element 40, thereby activating the horn actuating device 42. The horn blowing mechanism is actuated through the horn blowing mechanism to blow the horn.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the horn button 34
A leaf spring may be used as the spring 41 that pressably supports.

In addition, as mentioned above, by providing the support frame 37 on the pad 3, it can be made into a unit and easy to handle.
As shown in FIG. 6, the support frame 37 of the horn device 31
may be provided on the steering wheel body 2.

Next, an example of the horn actuating device 42 will be described in the seventh example.
The diagram will be explained.

A light emitting diode 38 as the light emitting element is connected to a resistor 47 between the power supply positive line 45 and the power supply negative line 46 grounded to the steering shaft.
Also, the collector and emitter of the phototransistor 40 as the light receiving element are connected to a resistor 48.
A capacitor 49 for dumping the output from the phototransistor 40 and a variable resistor 50 for adjusting sensitivity are connected in parallel with the phototransistor 40.
0 to the base of the transistor 21, and the collector of this transistor 51 is connected to the protective diode 5.
2 to the positive line 45, the emitter of the transistor 51 is connected to the negative line 46, the excitation coil 54 of the relay 53 is connected in parallel with the diode 52, and the One slip ring 4
At the same time, the other slip ring 44 is connected to the positive electrode line 45 via the opening/closing contact 55 of the relay 53.

And these two slip rings 43, 44
Sliding contacts 56 and 57 are respectively connected in sliding contact, and the positive terminal of a battery 59 is connected to one of the sliding contacts 56 via a switch 58 that is linked to the key switch of the engine, and a horn 60 is connected to the other sliding contact 57.
The negative electrode of the battery 59 is connected through the terminal.

In such a configuration, when the engine key switch is operated and set to, for example, the accessory position (Acc) or higher, the switch 58 is turned on, and for example, in the case of a normal passenger car, the switch 58 is turned on.
Voltages are applied before and after. At this time, the resistor 47 optimizes the current to the light emitting diode 39, the resistor 48 determines the idle current to the phototransistor 40 and the transistor 51, and furthermore, the distance between the light emitting diode 39 and the phototransistor 40, Sensitivity is adjusted by varying the variable resistor 50 depending on the rating of the components.

The light emitting diode 39 emits light and illuminates the phototransistor 40 at all times. In this state, when the horn button 34 is pressed and the light path to the phototransistor 40 is blocked by the light shielding part 35, the collector of the phototransistor 40,
The current flowing between the emitters turns off,
The base potential of the transistor 51 rises due to the capacitor 49 and the variable resistor 50, current flows between the collector and emitter of the transistor 51 via the excitation coil 54 of the relay 53, the switching contact 55 of the relay 53 is turned on, and the horn 60 is turned on. is activated and she is blown away.

Note that an infrared light emitting diode may be used as the light emitting element, an infrared phototransistor may be used as the light receiving element, and a photoconductor (CDS) or the like may be used as the light receiving element.

Further, the switch 58 may be connected to the key switch or may be always in a conductive state.

Further, the horn actuating device 42 may be housed inside the steering wheel 1, or only the light emitting element 39 and the light receiving element 40 may be provided inside the steering wheel 1, and other electrical components may be provided outside the steering wheel 1.

Further, the horn operating device 42 is not limited to the circuit described above, but may be any device that outputs a horn blowing signal by blocking the optical path.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the light shielding part of the horn button blocks the optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element and blows the horn, so the horn operating part becomes a non-contact electric type and operates stably during long-term use. can be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional device, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the section shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view thereof 5 and 6 are sectional views showing other embodiments of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram. 1...steering wheel, 3...pads,
31... Horn device, 34... Horn button, 3
5... Light shielding part, 39... Light emitting element, 40... Light receiving element, 42... Horn actuating device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A horn button is provided on the pad of the steering wheel so that it can be pressed freely, and below the horn button, the above-mentioned light emitting element and the horn actuating device operate the horn blowing mechanism by blocking the optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. A steering wheel characterized in that a light-receiving element is arranged to face the light-receiving element at a distance, and a light-shielding part is provided below the horn button to block an optical path from the light-emitting element to the light-receiving element when the horn button is pressed. horn device.