JPH0125736Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] In general, the present invention is such that the atsupa column, which rotatably supports the atsupa steering shaft, is tiltable about the tilt rotation axis with respect to the lower column, which rotatably supports the lower steering shaft, so that the steering wheel can be tilted to the desired position. The present invention relates to a tilt column that is fixed to or released from a tilt position, and relates to a tilt position memory device in such a tilt column.

Conventionally, various tilt columns have existed to improve the ease of getting in and out of the driver's seat and the ease of operating the steering wheel. There was nothing. Therefore, when the tilt position is canceled when getting on or off the vehicle, in order to re-obtain the optimal tilt position from the previous use, it is necessary to select the optimal tilt position from the entire tilt stroke from the beginning. .

Therefore, in view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide a tilt position memory device of a simple structure in the tilt column to eliminate the troublesome effort of reselecting the optimum tilt position as described above.

The gist of the present invention for achieving this purpose is that an upper bracket 9 is integrally fixed to the lower end of the upper column 7 and an upper bracket 9 is integrally fixed to the upper end of the lower column 8 and is connected to the tilt rotation shaft 3. Lower bracket 10 rotatably supported by the bracket
A movable member 17 that is movable in the axial direction of the column is provided on either one, and a stopper means 18 that restricts downward rotation of the upper column relative to the lower column by contacting the movable member is fixed on the other. The upper column forms a predetermined tilt angle with respect to the lower column when the movable member comes into contact with the stopper means, and the tilt angle can be changed to another predetermined tilt angle by moving the movable member in the axial direction. Fixing means 20, 21 are provided for fixing the movable member brought into position, and further clamping means 13 are provided for tightening the upper column relative to the lower column when the upper column is rotated to a desired tilt angle relative to the lower column. This is due to the fact that it is provided.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, which is an overall view of the tilt column excluding the memory device according to the present invention, a handle 2 is attached to the atsupa steering shaft 1;
is connected to the lower steering shaft 4 by a universal joint (not shown) at the tilt rotation shaft 3. The shaft 4 is connected to a steering gear 6 via a universal joint 5.
is connected to.

The upper steering shaft 1 is rotatably supported by the upper column 7 around the shaft, and the lower steering shaft 4 is supported by the lower column 8 so as to be rotatable around the shaft. Both columns 7 and 8 are integrally formed with an upper bracket 9 and a lower bracket 10, respectively, and the lower bracket 10 is fixed to an instrument panel 11. Both brackets 9,
10 partially overlap, and the former 9 is tiltable with respect to the latter 10 around the rotation axis 3.

At the overlapping part of both brackets 9 and 10,
Furthermore, a tilt tightening/releasing shaft 12 is provided, which is operated by a tilt lever 13. Therefore,
When the shaft 12 is untightened by the tilt lever 13, the handle 2, the upper steering shaft 1, the upper column 7, and the upper bracket 9 can be tilted together around the tilt rotation axis 3, and the handle 2 Various tilt positions can be taken as shown by solid lines and chain lines in the figure.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the tilt position memory device, in which a memory lever 17 as a movable member can adjust its axial position by means of two bushes 15 and 16 on the upper bracket 9. A stopper plate 18 is obliquely fixed to the lower bracket 10. The memory lever 17 is integrally formed with a handle portion 19 as an operating means, and by holding and operating the handle portion 19, the memory lever 17 is adjusted in position in a direction substantially perpendicular to the tilt rotation axis 3. On the other hand, the stopper plate 18 is provided obliquely with respect to the position adjustment direction of the memory lever 17.

Furthermore, the memory lever 17 can be rotated about its axis to assume a position in which it is axially adjustable and a position in which it is not adjustable. This mechanism will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, which are sectional views taken along the line A-A in FIG. 2.

A gear portion 20 is carved in a part of the memory lever 17 along the axial direction, while a member having a gear portion 21 formed at the end slides into a hole 16a provided in the bush 16 on the right side of FIG. are movably fitted.
This gear portion 21 is urged by a spring 22 in the direction of meshing with the gear portion 20 of the memory lever 17. Therefore, when the memory lever 17 is in the solid line position in FIG. 2 with the handle portion 19 facing downward, both gear portions 20 and 21 are engaged as shown in FIG. 3, and the memory lever 17 is in the axial position. Unable to move. However, the angle θ from the above solid line position
Rotate the memory lever 1 to the position indicated by the chain line in Figure 2.
7, the gears 20 and 21 disengage as shown in FIG.
The axial position can be adjusted.

The operation of the first embodiment will be explained below.

In FIG. 2, when the memory lever 17 and the handle portion 19 are in the state shown by the solid line, the tilt position is memorized, the tilt lever 13 is tightened, and the tip of the memory lever 17 is in the state shown by the solid line. is in contact with the stopper plate 18, and the handle 2, the top bracket 9, etc. are fixed at the selected tilt position. From this state, tilt lever 1
3 in the clockwise direction around the shaft 12, the tilt tightening is released and the handle 2, upper bracket 9, etc. are flipped upward around the tilt rotation shaft 3 by the force of the spring 40. Here, the driver can easily get on and off the seat.

At this time, if you keep the memory lever 17 in the same adjustment position, you can simply put your hand on the handle 2 and push down the handle 2, the atsupah bracket 9, etc., and the memory lever 17 will return to the tilt position shown in Figure 2. Tip of lever 17 and stopper plate 1
The pressing down stops at the position where the lever 8 makes contact, and the previous tilt position is reproduced by turning the tilt lever 13 counterclockwise and tightening it. Therefore, the trouble of having to reselect from among all the tilt strokes in order to obtain the optimum tilt position from the previous use is eliminated.

In the tilt position shown in FIG. 2, where the tip of the memory lever 17 and the stopper plate 18 are in contact, the stopper plate 18 is installed obliquely, so the reaction force caused by the downward force applied to the handle 2 is applied to the memory lever. Although it is inevitable that the reaction force is generated in the right direction along the axial direction of the memory lever 17, this reaction force is received by the meshing of both gear parts 20 and 21, and the memory lever 17 does not shift from the adjustment position. This is the reason why both gear parts 20 and 21 are provided.

Next, if you want to readjust the position of the memory lever 17 and reselect the tilt position, rotate the memory lever 17 and the handle part 19 once as shown by the chain lines in FIG. Disengage the mesh as shown in Fig. 4, and then move the memory lever 17 in the axial direction to adjust its position. When this position adjustment is completed, the memory lever 17 and the handle portion 19 are rotated again to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2. In this way, both gear parts 20 and 21 will mesh again as shown in FIG. 3, and the memory lever 17 will be reliably held at this adjustment position. In this way, when the handle 2, the lift bracket 9, etc. are pushed down from the flip-up position, the tip of the memory lever 17 comes into contact with the stopper plate 18 and stops at the tilt position selected as described above. Once tightened, the handle 2 is set at the desired tilt position.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the reaction force applied to the memory lever 17 as described above is not caused by the meshing of gears, but by the frictional meshing of a cam 23 formed on the bush 16 and a ball 24 embedded in the memory lever 17. An example is given below.

That is, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the memory lever 17 is rotated counterclockwise about the longitudinal axis, the cam 23 and the ball 24 engage in frictional engagement, and the memory lever 17 becomes unable to move in the axial direction. . On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the memory lever has been rotated clockwise by an angle θ from the state shown in FIG. 5, and the friction engagement has been disengaged and the position can be adjusted.

As described above, according to the present invention, the tilt position is set by the contact between the movable member such as the memory lever and the stopper means such as the stopper plate or stopper pin, so the structure is simple and the optimum tilt position can be set once. By doing so, a simple tilt device can be realized in which the settings are memorized and there is no need to reselect the tilt position, and operability is further improved without the trouble of reselecting the optimum tilt position of the tilt column.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall view of the tilt column according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a view showing the entire mechanism of the first embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the entire mechanism of the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a similar cross-sectional view in a different state, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating a modification of the first embodiment. Explanation of symbols of main parts, 9... Upper bracket, 10... Lower bracket, 17... Movable member, 18... Stopper means, 19... Operating means.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. The upper column that rotatably supports the upper steering shaft is tiltable about the tilt rotation axis relative to the lower column that rotatably supports the lower steering shaft, and the upper column rotatably supports the upper steering shaft. In the tilt column, which can be fixed to the tilt position and can be released from the tilt position, an upper bracket is integrally fixed to the lower end of the upper column, and a tilt column is integrally fixed to the upper end of the lower column. A movable member movable in the axial direction of the column is provided on either one of the lower brackets rotatably supported by the upper bracket by a rotating shaft, and the other is provided with a movable member that is movable in the axial direction of the column. A stopper means for restricting downward rotation of the upper column with respect to the lower column is fixedly provided, and when the movable member abuts the stopper means, the upper column makes a predetermined tilt angle with respect to the lower column, and the upper column is moved at a predetermined tilt angle. The tilt angle can be changed to another predetermined tilt angle by moving the member in the axial direction, and fixing means are provided for fixing the movable member brought to the predetermined position, and further, the upper column is fixed to the lower column. 1. A tilt position memory device for a tilt column, further comprising a tightening means for tightening the upper column against the lower column when the upper column is rotated to a desired tilt angle. 2. The tilt position memory device according to claim 1, wherein the movable member is rotatable around its axis, and is engaged or disengaged with the fixing means by the rotation. 3. The fixing means for the movable member includes a plurality of teeth spaced apart in the axial direction on a part of the circumferential direction of the movable member, and is biased toward the teeth and engages with the teeth. 2. The tilt position memory device according to claim 2, further comprising an engaging member that disables axial movement of the movable member. 4. The tilt position memory device according to claim 3, wherein the stopper means is a stopper plate provided obliquely with respect to the moving direction of the movable member.