JPH0121103Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a steering wheel for an automobile or the like.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

As a conventional steering wheel,
The one shown in Publication No.-14142 is known.
In this steering wheel, an opening is formed in the pad on the top surface of the main body, a contact plate that serves as one contact is fixed to the bottom of the pad with a screw, and an insulator is placed on top of this contact plate. A horn spring, which serves as the other contact point, is fixed with a screw through the pad, and a horn button that presses the horn spring is mounted in the opening of the pad so that it can be pressed freely, thereby forming a horn switch mechanism.

However, with this structure, there are problems in that the number of parts and assembly man-hours are large, and it is difficult to standardize and standardize parts, and parts must be changed when the type of steering wheel changes. Synthetic resin and contact plates are made of metal, and parts made of different materials are fixed to each other, so each part is prone to distortion due to differences in the amount of deformation due to temperature changes due to the difference in materials. In a high-temperature atmosphere, both ends of the pad tend to lift upward, causing deformation of the contact plate, causing rattles in the horn button, and inhibiting pressing of the horn button. There were problems such as the stroke of the horn button changing, and the operation tended to become unstable.

[Purpose of invention]

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned points, and it reduces the number of parts and assembly man-hours for the steering wheel horn switch mechanism, promotes the standardization and commonization of parts, and furthermore, The purpose is to prevent distortion and stabilize operation.

[Summary of the idea]

In the steering wheel of the present invention, an opening is formed in the synthetic resin pad on the top surface of the steering wheel body, and a mounting plate is formed below the opening integrally with the pad. A horn switch body is installed which has an actuating part that can be pressed and has an electric contact mechanism built therein that is opened and closed by the vertical movement of the actuating part, and a horn button is provided in the opening so that it can be pressed freely, and when the horn button is pressed. The present invention is characterized in that the operating portion of the horn switch body is moved up and down by operation to open and close the electric contact mechanism.

[Example of idea]

The steering wheel of the present invention will be explained in detail based on one embodiment shown in the drawings.

1 and 2, 1 is a steering wheel body, and this body 1 has an annular rim portion 2.
and a boss part 3 at the center thereof are connected by a pair of spoke parts 4 on both sides, and a metal boss to be fitted to a steering shaft (not shown) is arranged at the center of an annular rim core metal 5, and this rim core It is formed by welding and connecting the metal 5 and the metal boss with a pair of spoke core metals 6 on both sides, and further covering the rim core metal 5 and spoke core metal 6 with an outer sheath 7 made of synthetic resin.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a synthetic resin upper pad provided on the boss portion 3 of the steering wheel main body 1 and the pair of spoke portions 4 on both sides. 11
is fixed to the upper surface of the main body 1 by screwing the support protrusions 12 protruding from the upper part of each spoke portion 4 of the main body 1 with screws 13 . In addition,
The upper surface pad 10 covers not only the upper surfaces of the boss portion 3 and the pair of spoke portions 4, but also the side surfaces thereof.

Openings 16 are formed near both ends of the upper pad 10, and a mounting plate 18 is provided below the openings 16 on both sides via a hanging portion 17, as shown in FIG. is the top pad 10
An engagement hole 19 is formed in the center of this mounting plate portion 18 . Further, the hanging portion 17 is provided at the longitudinal edge of the opening 16, so that both side edges of the opening 16 function as engaging portions 20 for a horn button 32, which will be described later. In addition, 21 is a horn button 3 which will be described later.
This hole is formed so that the second locking pawl 33 can move vertically, and can be formed by fitting a molding die.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a micro switch as a horn switch body, and this micro switch 24 has an electric contact mechanism built therein, and as shown in FIG. 25 is protruded so as to be freely pressable, and
A pair of terminal pieces 26 are provided protruding from one side thereof, and a pair of locking claws 27 are further provided projecting from the lower part of the terminal pieces 26 . 1
9 from above and engaging the lower surface of the edge of the engagement hole 19, the micro switch 24
is fixed on the mounting plate portion 18. Note that the micro switch 24 has a pair of terminal pieces 26.
is connected to the horn device and power source via a connector 28 and a lead wire 29, and by pressing the operating portion 25 and lowering it, the built-in normally open electrical contact mechanism is closed. It is designed to activate a horn device.

32 is a horn button provided in the opening 16 of the upper surface pad 10;
As shown in FIG. 4, locking claws 33 are formed at the lower portions of both sides, and a fitting protrusion 34 is formed at the lower center of the locking claws 3 on both sides.
3 is inserted into the opening 16 from above and engaged with the lower surface of the engaging portion 20, so that the horn button 32 is supported in the opening 16 so as not to come off, and the fitting protrusion 34 is press-fitted into the actuating portion 25 of the micro switch 24, so that the actuating portion 25 can be pressed using the horn button 32.

Then, when assembling, the locking claw 27 of the micro switch 24 is engaged with the edge of the engagement hole 19 of the mounting plate part 18 to fix the micro switch 24 on the mounting plate part 18, and then, When the horn button 32 is inserted into the opening 16 of the top pad 10, the locking claws 33 on both sides of the horn button 32 engage with the engaging portions 20 of the top pad 10, and the horn button 32 is supported in the opening 16 to prevent it from coming off. At the same time, the fitting protrusion 34 of the horn button 32 is press-fitted into the operating part 25 of the micro switch 24, and the horn button 32 is pressed into place.
is fixed to the micro switch 24, thereby allowing the horn switch mechanism to be assembled. In addition,
Terminal piece 26 of micro switch 24 and connector 2
Connection with 8 shall be made in advance.

When in use, the actuating part 25 of the micro switch 24 is pressed through the horn button 32 to activate the horn device. Since the locking pawl 33 on the other side serves as a fulcrum, the actuating portion 25 can be pressed smoothly.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, the horn switch mechanism can be set up simply by providing a horn switch body such as a micro switch and a horn button, which are integrated into a single unit, on the top pad in which the mounting plate and the opening are integrally formed. Because it can be configured, the number of parts and assembly man-hours can be reduced, and if a relatively small micro switch is used for the horn switch body, the horn switch body can be standardized and shared.
Furthermore, since the top pad and the mounting plate are integrally formed and made of the same synthetic resin, the degree of deformation due to temperature changes is also the same.Therefore, distortion does not occur, and horn operation is not influenced by temperature changes. It will not become unstable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show an embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 2 is a partial vertical sectional view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the mounting plate portion thereof.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the horn switch and horn button. 1... Steering wheel body, 10... Pad, 16... Opening, 18... Mounting plate part, 24
... Micro switch as a horn switch body, 25 ... Actuation section, 32 ... Horn button.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An opening is formed in a synthetic resin pad on the top surface of the steering wheel body, and a mounting plate is formed below this opening integrally with the pad,
A horn switch body is attached to this mounting plate, which has an actuating part on the top that can be pressed freely and has an electric contact mechanism inside that is opened and closed by the vertical movement of the actuating part, and a horn button can be freely pressed in the opening. A steering wheel characterized in that the operating portion of the horn switch body is moved up and down by pressing the horn button to open and close the electric contact mechanism.