JPS6361680A - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a steering wheel in light weight and in a thin type, by using a contact plate of smaller thickness in place of the horn switch late of conventional thickness. CONSTITUTION:A boss 4 forms contact plate-stopping screw thread holes H3' in the upper surface while a steering shaft mounting hole H in the center, and the boss 4 fixes to its side part spoke core metals 3 to be welded. A horn switch contact plate 20, consisting of a metal thin plate, forms a steering shaft protruding hole H1 in the center and contact plate-stopping screw thread holes H3 in both sides of said hole H1. The contact plate 20 is mounted by a thread to a lower cover 5 arranged in the bottom surface of the boss 4, and switch springs 6 are arranged in the upper surface of the contact plate 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an automobile steering wheel, and is used in the automobile industry.

<Conventional technology> In a conventional steering wheel, a boss plate with a spoke core metal welded and fixed to the upper surface and a switch spring arranged thereon, and a boss with the boss plate welded and fixed to the upper surface are connected to a lower cover and a pad. It was covered with

That is, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, a boss plate 30 made of a steel plate with a wall thickness of 3.0 to 4.5 mm is welded to the upper part of the boss 4, and the spoke core metal 3, 3 are welded w, and the switch springs 6 and 6 are each fixed with screws F through the insulating material 7, and mounting screw holes H2 are inserted in the four corners.
, fit the lower cover 50 to the bosses 4 on the bottom side of the boss plate 30, and attach the mounting bosses T at the four corners of the lower cover 50.
A screw S2 was attached to the screw hole H2 of the boss plate 30, and a pad (not shown) was fitted from above the boss plate to the lower cover so as to be vertically slidable, thereby forming the main part of the steering wheel.

Then, ribs are formed on the inner surface of the pad, and the ribs are brought into contact with the four tops P1 formed on both sides of each switch spring 6.6, so that the pad is elastically supported on the boss plate 30, and the pad is operated. When a person presses the pad, the inner surface of the pad pushes down the top P1 of the switch spring 6, causing the electrical contact Po on the lower surface of the end of the switch spring 6 to come into contact with the boss plate 30,
The switch spring 6 (+) and the boss plate 30 (-) are energized to function as a horn switch.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Since the boss plate 30 is a substrate that supports the spoke core metal 3 or is fixed to the boss 4 by welding, it requires a wall thickness to meet mechanical requirements and is heavy. This inevitably increases the size and cost.

Furthermore, due to the welding W of the spoke core metal 3 and the welding of the boss 4, a curvature occurs in the boss plate 30 due to cooling after welding, causing distortion in the gap between the contact point Po of the switch spring 6 and the surface of the boss plate 30. This causes so-called stroke distortion, and the curvature of the boss plate 30 also causes distortion in the relative position between the screw hole H2 of the boss plate 30 and the mounting boss T of the lower cover 50, and eventually the screw S2 causes the boss plate 30 and the lower cover 50 to When the lower cover 50 is exposed, the lower cover 50 is also deformed (curved). In addition, since the spoke core metal 3 is welded onto the surface of the boss plate 30, the main central part of the steering wheel covered with the lower cover 50 and the pad becomes thicker, resulting in design constraints and the presence of the spoke core metal 3. This limits the space on the boss plate 30, which is disadvantageous in terms of installation of other components such as an auto drive switch.

<Means and effects for solving the problems> As is clear from, for example, Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C and Figures 4A and 4B, the present invention has a screw hole H3 for fixing the contact plate on the top surface.
The spoke core metals 3, 3 are welded and fixed to the sides of the boss 4 which has a steering shaft mounting hole H in the center, and the lower cover 5 is provided with a hole H4 for inserting the boss and has holes H4 at the four corners of the periphery. The horn switch contact plate 20, which is made of a thin metal plate and is formed with a mounting boss T as a contact plate joint, has a steering shaft protruding hole H1 in the center, and screw holes H3 for fixing the contact plate of the boss 4 on both sides thereof. A screw insertion hole H3 corresponding to the angle is drilled, and a switch spring 6.
6 with fasteners F, joint parts H2 with the lower cover 5 are provided at the four corners of the periphery, the lower cover 5 is placed on the boss 4 from the bottom surface, and the contact plate 20 is placed on the top surface of the boss 4, and the contact plate 20 and the mounting boss T of the lower cover 5 are joined and attached with screws S2, and the contact plate 20 is mechanically fixed to the boss 4 with screws S3.
The steering shaft head (not shown) protruding from the hole H1 of the contact plate 20 is fixed with a nut (not shown), and the pad (not shown) can be moved up and down from above the contact plate 20 to the lower cover 5. It is meant to be fitted.

Therefore, on the upper surface of the contact plate 20, the switch spring 6, the steering shaft fixing nut, and the contact plate 20 fixing screw s2. s3, and the contact plate 20 itself acts only as one electrode plate and as a support for the lower cover 5, so it can be formed into a thin plate, and since there are no welded parts, dimensional distortion does not occur. In addition, contact plate 20
Since there is no spoke core metal 3 on the top, a space can be formed.
Conventional problems can be solved.

<Example> [Example 1] As shown in Figures 2A and 2B, engaging pawls 11 serving as joints with the lower cover 5 are provided outward at the four corners and extend in the same direction, and a steering shaft protrusion hole H1 is provided in the center. A contact plate 10 having screw insertion holes H3 on both sides and two punched holes HO on the plate surface was formed from a steel plate with a wall thickness of 1.6 mm. Both sides of the contact plate 10 in the front and back direction are made of spring steel and have a top P1 on the top surface and a contact point Po on the bottom surface.
A switch spring 6 having a switch spring 6 at both ends thereof was fixed to a contact plate 10 in an electrically insulating relationship with a stopper F via an insulating material 7. Note that 8 in the figure is an electrical cord connecting both switch springs 6. On the other hand, as shown in Figures 1A, 1B and 3B, the boss 4 has a steering shaft fitting hole H in the center and a screw hole H3' for fixing the contact plate on the top surface.
is provided, forming a large diameter part D1 and a small diameter part D2, and a small diameter part D
Weld the spoke core metals 3, 3 on the 2 sides by contacting them from both sides W
Fixed.

The lower cover 5 has a side edge 5'' and a rib 5'' for supporting and reinforcing the contact plate, and has a pawl receiving portion 51 as a joint for receiving the engaging pawl 11 of the contact plate 10. Molded from polypropylene resin.

To assemble, insert the lower cover 5 from below onto the large diameter part D1 of the boss 4, which has the spoke core metals 3, 3 welded and fixed to the side part of the small diameter part D2.
At the same time, the contact plate 10 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the boss 4 from above and moved laterally, and each engaging pawl 11 is inserted and locked into the pawl receiving part 51 of the lower cover 5, thereby removing the lower cover 5. Temporarily fasten with the contact plate 10, and then insert the HilH screw insertion hole H of the contact plate 10.
3 and screw hole H3" of boss 4 with screw S3,
Three members, the lower cover 5, the boss 4, and the contact plate 10, are integrally connected.

Next, by a conventional method, the integrated steering wheel was inserted into the steering shaft, the head of the steering shaft was fixed with a nut via the contact plate 10, and the horn pad was fitted and covered with the lower cover 5 from above.

In the obtained steering wheel, the contact plate 10 achieves weight reduction and space utilization by forming the punched hole Ho, and has the switch spring 6 as one electrode (+) and the contact plate as the other electrode (-). The stroke is as originally set and there is no stroke distortion, and the assembly of the lower cover 5 and the horn band is made thinner than the conventional product, achieving a design effect. Furthermore, since the lower cover 5 and the contact plate 10 are connected by locking the claw receiver 51 and the engaging claw 11, the screws at the four corners of the conventional boss plate 30 and lower cover 50 as shown in FIG. Compared to joining, the number of parts is reduced, and the number of assembly steps (screw fixing steps) can be reduced.

[Example 2] As shown in Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 4A, and 4B, a mounting boss T is provided on the lower cover 5 in place of the pawl receiving portion in Example 1, and the contact plate 20 is joined. The configuration was the same as in Example 1, except that a screw insertion hole H2 was provided in place of the engaging claw 11 of Example 1, and the connection between the contact plate 20 and the lower cover 5 was achieved by screw connections at the four corners.

The obtained steering wheel had a slight increase in the number of parts and a slight increase in assembly man-hours (screw fixing man-hours) compared to Example 1, but other than that, all the effects of Example 1 were achieved. It solved all the problems of conventional products.

<Effects of the invention> By using a new thin-walled contact plate instead of the conventional thick-walled boss plate, the steering wheel can be made lighter and thinner, making it possible to create new design effects. became.

In addition, by integrating the boss and spoke core metal by sandwiching them between the thin contact plate and the lower cover, and by not using welding to fix the contact plate, it is possible to prevent stroke distortion of the switch spring and the occurrence of assembly dimensional distortion. could be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of the main part of the steering wheel of the present invention with the pad removed. FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1A. FIG. 2A is a plan view of a contact plate used in the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2A. 3A, 3B, and 3C are exploded perspective views of modified embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 3A shows the contact plate in the third
Figure B shows the boss portion to which the spoke core metal is fixed, and Figure 3C shows the lower cover. FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the members shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C combined, with FIG. 4A taken along the direction A-A with respect to the contact plate, and FIG. 4B shown taken along B-B.
5A, which is a cross-sectional view in the direction, shows a conventional boss plate, FIG. 5B shows a combined state of the boss plate and lower cover on the plane of FIG. 5A-B-BIr, and FIG.
It is a diagram showing a combined state of the boss plate and the lower cover in the -C cross section. 1...Ring, 2...Spoke. 3...Spoke core metal, 4...Boss. 5...Lower cover, 5"...Lower cover side edge. 5"...Lower cover rib, 51...Claw receiver. 6... Switch spring, 7... Insulating piece. 8...Code, 1, 20...Contact plate. 11... Engagement claw. Figure 2A Figure 3A Figure 4B Figure 5A Figure 5B Figure 5C

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering wheel consisting of a ring (1), spokes (2), and a boss (4), wherein a horn switch contact plate (10, 20) is mechanically fixed to the upper surface of the boss, and The contact plate (10, 20
), a lower cover (5) that covers the periphery of the boss (4) is fixed to the steering wheel. 2. The boss (4) and the contact plate (10,
20) refers to the contact plate fixing screw hole (H_3') and screw (S_3) provided on the top surface of the boss (4).
The steering wheel according to claim 1, characterized in that the steering wheel is fixed by. 3. The contact plate (10, 20) and the lower cover (5) are connected to the joint (11, H_2) provided at the periphery of the contact plate (10, 20) and the lower cover (
5) The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the steering wheel is locked and fixed by a joint portion (51, T) provided upright on the inner surface of the steering wheel. 4. The joint provided on the periphery of the contact plate (10) is an engaging claw (11), and the lower cover (5) has an engaging claw (11).
) is a claw receiving part (51), which is connected to the contact plate (1) with the boss (4) in between.
0) and the lower cover (5) are arranged, and the engaging claw (
11) to slide and engage with the claw receiver (51),
By screwing the contact plate (10) to the boss (4), the contact plate (10)
) and the lower cover (5) are integrally fixed to each other.