JPH04317858A - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dispense with the refastening of a boss and facilitate the mounting in a precise direction by dividing a central boss into an inner boss and an outer boss rotatably fitted thereto, and regulating the direction after mounting followed by fixing. CONSTITUTION:In a steering wheel in which a ring rim part is connected to a central boss part through a spoke part, the cylindrical boss part 4 of the boss part is halved. Namely, it is divided into an inner boss 21 geared with the serration part 15 of a steering shaft 11 and fitted to a taper part 16 by fastening by a nut 12, and an outer boss 22 connected to the spoke core metal 5 of a spoke part 3 and rotatably fitted to the outside thereof. A recessed part 23 as a rotation regulating part is formed on the outside surface of the inner boss 21, and the rotating range is regulated by a lock screw 24 entering to the recessed part 23. After the spoke part is regulated in a precise direction, the lock screw 24 is fastened to fix the steering wheel.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Object of the invention]

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel for an automobile or the like.

0003

[Prior Art] A steering wheel for an automobile has a structure in which an annular rim part and a boss part in the center are connected through spoke parts.Generally, the boss provided on the boss part is attached to the steering shaft. The boss engages with the serrations formed at the tip, and the boss is fixed to the steering shaft with a screw fitting such as a nut or countersunk screw screwed onto the tip of the steering shaft. 40 teeth are formed.

[0004] For this reason, when attaching the steering wheel to the steering shaft, even if the engagement between the boss of the steering wheel and the serrations of the steering shaft shifts by just one tooth, the angle at which the steering wheel is attached will differ by 10 to 9 degrees. In such a case, it is necessary to pull out the steering wheel boss from the steering shaft, orient the steering wheel in the correct direction, and then re-engage the boss with the serrations of the steering shaft, which makes the work cumbersome. It is.

[0005] As described above, even if the boss is engaged with the serrations of the steering shaft with the steering wheel facing in the correct direction, there is an error in the assembly of the steering mechanism connected to the lower part of the steering shaft. The steering shaft itself has an error in its rotational direction, and as a result, the steering wheel cannot be completely oriented in the correct direction, resulting in an error of about 5 degrees, which is equivalent to half of one tooth of the serration section.

[0006] Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-241262 discloses a method of reducing the error in the mounting angle of the steering wheel by selectively using several types of stopper pieces. , several types of stopper pieces had to be prepared, and the steering shaft had to be machined into a special shape, so it could not be applied to a general steering shaft.

[0007] Apart from this, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-263
Publication No. 166 discloses that a bush is interposed between the steering shaft and the boss of the steering wheel, and the mounting angle of the bush with respect to the steering shaft and the mounting angle of the boss with respect to the bush are changed to reduce errors in the mounting angle of the steering wheel. Although a method has been proposed, this method requires refitting the bush to the steering shaft and refitting the boss to the bush, which is cumbersome.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, in the conventional case, when trying to install the steering wheel in the correct direction, it was necessary to refit the boss or bush, which made the work troublesome, and the steering wheel Sometimes the shaft had to be machined into a special shape.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a method for easily attaching a steering wheel to a general steering shaft in the correct direction without having to refit the boss. The purpose is to

[Configuration of the invention]

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention connects an annular rim portion 1 and a central boss portion 2 thereof via spoke portions 3, and connects a boss 4 provided on the boss portion 2 to a steering shaft 11. The steering wheel is a steering wheel in which the boss 4 is fixed to the steering shaft 11 by a screw fitting 12 which is engaged with a serration portion 15 formed at the tip of the steering shaft 11 and is screwed onto the tip of the steering shaft 11, It is divided into an inner boss 21 that meshes with the part 15 and an outer boss 22 that connects the spoke core metal 5 of the spoke part 3 and rotatably fits into the inner boss 21. Rotation regulating parts 23 and 24 are provided between them to regulate the rotation range of the outer boss 22 relative to the inner boss 21, and a lock screw 24 is provided on the outer boss 22 to fix the outer boss 22 to the inner boss 21. It is.

0012

[Operation] In the steering wheel of the present invention, the inner boss 21 is connected to the serration portion 1 of the steering shaft 11.
5, by rotating the outer boss 22 on the outside of the inner boss 21 with respect to the steering shaft 11 and the inner boss 21 within the range restricted by the rotation restricting parts 23 and 24. The mounting angles of the rim part 1 and spoke parts 3 are adjusted to point them in the correct direction, and then the lock screw 24 is tightened to fix the outer boss 22 to the inner boss 21.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows a steering wheel for an automobile, and this steering wheel has a structure in which an annular rim portion 1 and a central boss portion 2 are connected via spoke portions 3.

The boss portion 2 is provided with a cylindrical boss 4 made of metal or the like, and the spoke portion 3 is attached to the boss 4.
A spoke core metal 5 is fixed by welding or the like, and a rim core metal 6 of the rim portion 1 is fixed to this spoke core metal 5 by welding or the like, and a part of the spoke core metal 5 and the rim core metal 6 are made of soft synthetic resin. It is covered with a covering body 7.

As shown in FIG. 1, the boss 4 is fixed to the tip of a steering shaft 11 of an automobile with a nut 12 as a screw fitting via a washer 13. A bolt part 14 for the nut 12 and a serration part 15 and a tapered part 16 for the boss 4 are formed at the tip of the bolt.

Here, the boss 4 has an inner boss 21 that meshes with the serration portion 15 of the steering shaft 11 and also fits into the tapered portion 16.
The inner boss 21 is divided into two parts, and an outer boss 22 is rotatably fitted to the outside of the inner boss 21. The spoke core metal 5 of the spoke portion 3 is fixed to the outer boss 22 by welding or the like, and the nut 12 is fixed with a bolt. By screwing and tightening the inner boss 21 to the portion 14, the inner boss 21 is pressed to the tapered portion 16 via the washer 13, thereby fixing the inner boss 21 to the steering shaft 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, a recess 23 as a rotation restriction portion is formed on the outer surface of the inner boss 21, and a rotation restriction portion that enters into the recess 23 is formed on the outer surface of the inner boss 21. A lock screw 24 that also serves as a screw is screwed into the outer boss 22, and with the tip of the lock screw 24 entering the recess 23, the inner boss 21
As shown in FIG. 3, the rotation range of the outer boss 22 relative to
The outer boss 22 is fixed to the inner boss 21 with the tip of the lock screw 24 tightened to the inner boss 21.

A lever 25 is attached to the outer end of the lock screw 24 with a rivet 26, and the lock screw 24 can be rotated by this lever 25.

Further, an annular protrusion 31 is protruded from the upper end surface of the inner boss 21, and an edge portion is located on the outside of the protrusion 31 and engages with the upper end surface of the inner boss 21. 32 protrudes from the inner circumference of the upper end of the outer boss 22, but because the height of the protrusion 31 is high, the lock screw 24 may become loose even when the nut 12 is tightened to the inner boss 21. If so, the outer boss 22 can be rotated.

[0021] When attaching this steering wheel to the steering shaft 11, first, the inner boss 21 is engaged with the serration portion 15 of the steering shaft 11, and the steering shaft 11 is
Further, the washer 13 is attached to the bolt part 14 of the steering shaft 11 and the nut 12 is tightened. The inner boss 21 is fixed to the steering shaft 11 by being crimped onto the tapered portion 16 .

[0022] Here, the rim part 1 and the spoke parts 3
It is necessary to engage the inner boss 21 and the serration portion 15 of the steering shaft 11 with the inner boss 21 facing approximately in the correct direction.

In this state, when the lock screw 24 is loosened,
Since the outer boss 22 on the outside of the inner boss 21 can be rotated by 10 degrees in both directions with respect to the inner boss 21, the mounting angle of the rim part 1 and spoke part 3 connected to the outer boss 22 can be adjusted. With the rim part 1 and spoke parts 3 facing in the correct direction, the lock screw 24 is tightened, whereby the inner boss 21
Therefore, when attaching the steering wheel to the steering shaft 11, the steering wheel can be easily attached in the correct direction without refitting the boss 4, etc. There is no need to process it into a shape.

Even in the unlikely event that the lock screw 24 becomes loose while the car is being driven, the rotation of the outer boss 22 relative to the inner boss 21 will prevent the outer boss 22 from rotating in the recess 2 of the inner boss 21.
3 and the lock screw 24 of the outer boss 22 within the predetermined range shown in FIG.

Note that FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment.

In this second embodiment, the steering shaft 11 does not have the tapered portion 16, but instead has a locking stepped portion 41, and the other configurations are the same as the previously described embodiments.

Therefore, this embodiment can also be attached to the steering shaft 11 in the same way as the previous embodiment, and provides the same effects.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the outer boss can be rotated with respect to the inner boss within the range regulated by the rotation regulating section. By adjusting the mounting angles of the rim and spokes, the rim and spokes can be oriented in the correct direction very easily, and in this state, the outer boss can be fixed to the inner boss using the lock screw. Therefore, when attaching the steering wheel to the steering shaft, the steering wheel can be easily attached in the correct direction without refitting the boss, etc., and there is no need to process the steering shaft into a special shape.

Even if the lock screw becomes loose, the rotation of the outer boss relative to the inner boss is restricted within a predetermined range by the rotation restriction section, so the rim section will not rotate idly. There are so few that it never becomes a big deal.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a boss portion of an embodiment of a steering wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the boss of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the boss portion of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a boss portion of another embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Rim part 2 Boss part 3 Spoke part 4 Boss 5 Spoke core metal 11 Steering shaft 12 Nuts as screw fittings 15 Serration section 21 Inner Boss 22 Outer boss 23 Recessed part as rotation regulating part

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: An annular rim portion and a boss portion at the center thereof are connected via spoke portions, and a boss provided on the boss portion meshes with a serration portion formed at a distal end portion of a steering shaft. The steering wheel is fixed to the steering shaft by a threaded fitting screwed onto the tip of the steering shaft, and the inner boss is fixed to the steering shaft by connecting the inner boss that engages the boss with the serration part and the spoke core metal of the spoke part. and an outer boss which is rotatably fitted to the outer boss, and a rotation regulating part is provided between the inner boss and the outer boss to regulate the rotation range of the outer boss with respect to the inner boss, and the inner boss is attached to the outer boss. A steering wheel characterized by being provided with a lock screw for fixing an outer boss.