JPH0246448Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a steering wheel device for an automobile, etc., and particularly relates to a structure for attaching a conductive slip ring to the lower side of the boss portion thereof. .

[Conventional technology]

When attaching a conductive slip ring to the lower side of the synthetic resin boss cover of a steering wheel of an automobile, etc., a common method is to attach a screw ring as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-25140. There is a way to open and install it.
Another method is to caulk and attach a boss cover made of synthetic resin to a slip ring.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

When attaching the slip ring to the lower side of the boss using screws as described above, it is troublesome to tighten the screws, and if the screw is tightened too strongly, it may become fixed to the power receiving surface of the slip ring, that is, the steering column. In some cases, the surface on which the contact piece made sliding contact was deformed.

In addition, when attaching a slip ring to the lower side of the boss by caulking, the power receiving surface of the slip ring is likely to deform during caulking, similar to screw tightening.
Furthermore, the retaining force was weak and the boss cover was made of synthetic resin and easily deformed by heat, so there was a risk that the slip ring would fall off.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to enable the slip ring to be easily and reliably attached to the lower side of the boss portion without deforming the slip ring.

[Means for solving problems]

The steering device of the present invention includes a boss 5 fitted to the steering shaft, and a boss cover made of synthetic resin that surrounds the boss 5, is integrally connected to the boss 5, and has a slip ring fitting part 9 on the back side. 8, and a slip ring 12 fitted into the slip ring fitting portion 9 on the lower surface of the boss cover 8.
and a slip ring support body 14 which is fixed to the back surface of the boss cover 8 and has a support part 15 for supporting the slip ring 12, and a turn indicator cancel operation part 16.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the slip ring is supported by a separate slip ring support attached to the back side of the boss cover.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a steering wheel body, and this steering wheel body 1 has an annular rim portion 2, spoke portions 3, and boss portions 4. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this boss portion 4 has a metal cylindrical boss 5 that is fitted onto a steering shaft (not shown), and a flange portion 6 formed on the top of this boss 5. The spoke core metal 7 of the spoke part 3 is welded to the boundary with the upper outer periphery of the boss 5, and a synthetic resin boss cover 8 that surrounds the boss 5 and is integrally formed with the rim part 2 covers the boss. 5 and is integrally fitted and fixed.

This boss cover 8 has an annular slip ring groove 9 formed on its lower surface as a slip ring fitting portion, and a plurality of radial ribs 10 are provided on the inner bottom surface of this slip ring groove 9 at predetermined locations. A through hole 11 is bored in the hole.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an annular slip ring made of conductive metal, and a conductive piece 13 corresponding to the through hole 11 extends upward from the inner circumferential side of the slip ring 12.
are integrally protruded.

The slip ring 12 is fitted into the slip ring groove 9, and the conductive piece 13
is inserted into the through hole 11 of the boss cover 8.

A cylindrical slip ring support 14 made of synthetic resin is fixed to the back surface of the boss cover 8. This slip ring support body 14 is provided with an annular support part 15 on its upper part that supports the slip ring 12 from below, and on its lower outer circumferential surface it comes into contact with a cancel cam of a direction indicator (not shown). A cancel operating portion 16 that has a restoring function is integrally protruded.

The slip ring support 14 is fixed to the back surface of the boss cover 8 with screws 17, and supports the slip ring 12 at the outer peripheral edge of the support portion 15.

The slip ring 12 is connected to one end of a horn switch mechanism (not shown) of the steering wheel body 1, and the other end of the horn switch mechanism is connected to a battery of an automobile or the like via a steering shaft.

Further, a contact piece 18 is brought into contact with the slip ring 12 from below, and this contact piece 18 is connected to a battery of an automobile or the like via a lead wire. It is adapted to come into contact with the lower surface of the ring 12.

Next, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
is formed separately from the rim portion 2, and a plurality of fitting holes 21 are formed in the boss cover 8, and
Engagement claws 22 corresponding to the respective engagement holes 21 are protruded from the upper part of the slip ring support 14, and each engagement claw 22 of the slip ring support 14 is engaged with each engagement hole 21 of the boss cover 8. The slip ring 12 is supported by the boss cover 8.

Next, the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 are as follows:
Slip spring support 14 against boss cover 8
is fixed using a bayonet ring mechanism. That is, the boss cover 8 is formed with insertion notches 32 at multiple locations on the outer periphery of the boss hole 31, a presser piece 33 is provided on the insertion notches 32, and an engagement step is provided at one end of the insertion notch 32. 34
In addition, the slip ring support 14 is formed with engagement pieces 35 corresponding to the respective insertion notches 32 at the upper part thereof, and as shown in FIG. 7A, the engagement pieces 35 of the support 14 are 35 from below into each insertion notch 32 of the boss cover 8, push up the presser piece 33 upwards as shown in FIG. Figure 7C
As shown in FIG. 3, the engaging piece 35 is engaged with the engaging step portion 34 and is supported to prevent it from coming off by returning the holding piece 33 downward.

In any of the above embodiments, the slip ring support 14 may be made of polypropylene resin, or if wear resistance is taken into consideration, polyacetal resin, nylon, polyphonylene sulfide (PPS resin), etc. may be used. In good condition.

[Effects of the invention] According to the invention, the slip ring can be supported by simply attaching the slip ring support body that integrally has the slip ring support part and the cancel operation part to the boss cover, making the installation of the slip ring extremely easy and reliable. Since the slip ring is not directly fixed with screws or fixed by caulking, the slip ring is not deformed and the sliding contact with the contact piece is stable and reliable. In addition, the slip ring support has a cancel operation part of the direction indicator, so when considering the wear resistance of the cancel operation part, it has better wear resistance than the synthetic resin used for the boss cover. Synthetic resin can be used, and the slip ring can be stably and reliably supported.
In this case, since synthetic resins with good abrasion resistance are generally expensive, the expensive synthetic resin portion can be used to a minimum to avoid an increase in costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the main parts showing one embodiment of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a back view of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the entire device, and Fig. 4 is another embodiment. 5 is a sectional view of the main part of another embodiment, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7A,
B and C are explanatory views showing the attached state of the slip ring support body. 5...Boss, 8...Boss cover, 9...Slip ring groove as a slip ring fitting part, 12
... Slip ring, 14 ... Slip ring support, 15 ... Support part, 16 ... Cancel operation part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A boss fitted to the steering shaft; A boss cover made of synthetic resin that surrounds and is integrally connected to the boss and has a slip ring fitting part on the back side; This boss cover a slip ring fitted into a slip ring fitting portion on the lower surface of the above, and a slip ring support body fixed to the back surface of the boss cover and having a support portion for supporting the slip ring and a turn signal cancel operation portion. A steering wheel device characterized by: