JPH0441014Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to improvement of a steering column device.

[Prior Art] A passenger car equipped with a rack and pinion type steering device connects a steering shaft of a steering column device and an input shaft of a steering gear by an intermediate shaft via a universal joint.
For tilt steering devices that have a fulcrum below the steering column and allow the steering column to tilt in the vertical direction, it is common to connect the intermediate shaft with splines so that it can expand and contract in the axial direction in order to absorb the positional deviation of the intermediate shaft. It is true.

[Problems that the invention aims to solve] In conventional steering column devices in which the intermediate shaft is spline-coupled, there is play in the rotational direction at the spline joint, which causes the steering wheel to feel rattled and tends to make abnormal noises when driving. There is a problem.

A steering column device in which the steering column is fixed to the vehicle body without tilting allows the intermediate shaft to be integrated, so it is slightly better than the above-mentioned tilt steering device in terms of rattling and noise. Both the steering shaft and the input shaft of the steering gear are fixedly supported relative to the vehicle body, so when both shaft ends are connected to the intermediate shaft with a universal joint, the degree of freedom of this system is completely constrained. It is becoming. This steering column device tends to get twisted when assembled, and even if there are no problems during assembly, when driving on rough roads, the steering gear fixing part and the steering column mounting part may become misaligned due to deformation of the vehicle body. As a result, tensile or compressive forces act on the intermediate shaft, resulting in excessive stress being applied to the bearings and universal joints that support the steering shaft, causing rattling, and sudden abnormal noises during operation or damage to the steering wheel. This type of steering column device has a problem in that the vibration of the wheel increases, and the life of the oil seal of the universal joint attached to the intermediate shaft is shortened.

[Means for Solving the Problems] This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. A steering shaft with a steering wheel attached to the upper end is rotatably supported on a cylindrical tube-shaped steering column. A steering column device in which an intermediate shaft is disposed between a lower end of a steering shaft and an input shaft of a steering gear, and the intermediate shaft is connected to the steering shaft and the input shaft of the steering gear via a universal joint, respectively, The steering shaft is divided into an upper steering shaft and a lower steering shaft, both ends of the upper steering shaft are rotatably but immovably supported in an upper part of the steering column, and the lower steering shaft is arranged inside the steering column. The lower steering shaft is connected to the upper steering shaft by a universal joint, and the lower steering shaft can swing freely using the universal joint as a midpoint.

[Function] In the steering column device of this invention, the lower steering shaft is connected to the upper steering shaft inside the steering column by a universal joint, and is swingable around this universal joint, so that the steering column and Even if there is a slight relative displacement between the steering gears, the center position of the universal joint that connects the intermediate shaft and the lower steering shaft will change slightly, and the intersection angle will change slightly to absorb that displacement. No excessive force is applied to the bearings that support the shafts and the universal joints that connect the shafts.

In addition, the length of the steering column can be secured as well as in the conventional structure, and the upper bracket and lower bracket fix the steering column to the vehicle body with a predetermined span, ensuring sufficient support rigidity for the upper steering shaft. .

[Example] In FIG. 1, the steering shaft is composed of two shafts, an upper steering shaft 1 and a lower steering shaft 2. The department is supported. The sleeve 3 is fitted into a thin cylindrical tube member 6 having a reduced diameter portion at its upper end and fixed by welding, so that the sleeve 3 and the tube member 6 form an upper column 7. The upper end of the lower column 8 is slidably fitted to the lower end of the upper column 7, and the upper column 7 and the lower column 8 form a steering column. The bearing 4 is a ball bearing and supports the upper steering shaft 1 in a rotatable but immovable manner, and the bearing 5 is a needle bearing and supports the upper steering shaft 1 in a rotatable manner. The upper end of the upper steering shaft 1 has a second
As shown in the figure, a steering wheel 9 is attached, and a universal joint 10 is attached to the lower end of the upper steering shaft 1 so as to be located above the center of the steering column.
0 is attached to the upper end of the lower steering shaft 2. The upper column 7 is connected to the vehicle body part 12 by an upper bracket 11 slightly below the reduced diameter part.
The lower end of the lower column 8 is supported by a lower bracket 13. Since the distance between the supporting points of both brackets is sufficient, the bending rigidity of the steering column is ensured.

The lower end of the lower steering shaft 2 protrudes from the lower end of the lower column 8. A universal joint 14 is attached to the lower end of the lower steering shaft 2, and the universal joint 14 is attached to the input shaft 16 of the steering gear 15. Universal joint 17
are connected by an intermediate shaft 18. 19 is a rack and pinion steering device 20
This is a bracket that supports .

The lower end of the lower steering shaft 2 has an alignable bearing 2 mounted on the lower end of the lower column 8.
1 is supported. This bearing 21 is a toric body, and its cross section is U-shaped with a semicircular portion at one end in the axial direction.
is supported so that it can be slightly displaced in the radial direction.

Therefore, the lower steering shaft 2 can swing about the universal joint 10 attached to the upper steering shaft 1 as a fulcrum.

The steering column device shown in FIG. 1 is a tilt steering column device in which the column can be tilted vertically, and the lower bracket 13 and the lower column are swingably connected by a pin 30, and the upper bracket 11 and the upper column are The column can be fixed at a position with its inclination angle adjusted by a bolt 32 inserted into an elongated hole 31 provided in the upper bracket 11. 33 is a tilt lever that tightens the bolt 32.

In this embodiment, the lower end of the lower steering shaft 2 is supported by an alignable bearing 21, but the lower steering shaft 2 only needs to be able to swing in one direction perpendicular to the steering column. The lower steering shaft 2 may be guided by providing guide plates on the left and right sides of the column that restrict only left and right movement so that it can swing up and down.

Figure 3 shows another embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a steering column device that does not have a tilt mechanism. In this example, the upper column is an example in which the sleeve 3 is integrally molded with the upper column in Figure 1. The structure is the same as that in Fig. 1 except that the upper column is fixed to the upper bracket 11 and the lower column 8 is fixed to the lower bracket 13, so the same parts are given the same reference numerals and are duplicated in Fig. 1. The explanation will be omitted.

In this steering column device, the upper steering shaft 1 and the input shaft 16 of the steering gear are connected by the lower steering shaft 2, which is allowed to swing slightly, and the intermediate shaft 18. Even if a positional shift occurs in the relative position of the shaft 16, the lower steering shaft 2 and the intermediate shaft 18 are only slightly displaced, and no excessive tensile force or compressive force is applied to each shaft or universal joint.
Therefore, this steering column device can be particularly effectively used in power steering in which oil pressure is switched by actively displacing the input shaft 16 of the steering gear in the lateral direction. This will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. In such a power steering system, when the steering wheel 9 is rotated, the input shaft 16 of the steering gear is displaced laterally by δ in accordance with the applied torque. This displacement δ
As a result, the position of the universal joint 17 of the input shaft 16 of the steering gear is displaced from Q to Q', and in conjunction with this, the position of the universal joint 14 at the other end of the intermediate shaft is displaced from P to P', and the lower steering shaft 2 is β
Since the angle can be changed by the amount of torque applied, there is no excessive tensile or compressive force acting on each shaft and universal joint, and the input shaft 16 of the steering gear can be displaced laterally in accordance with the applied torque. It is possible to provide power assist to the easy shaft of the power steering according to the applied torque.

In a tilt steering device like the one shown in Figure 1,
Since the tilt fulcrum is offset from the center of the steering shaft, the position of the universal joint 14 will shift when the tilt is adjusted, but since the lower steering shaft 2 can swing, there will be no unnecessary force acting on each shaft and the universal joint as described above. do not have.

[Effect of the invention] The steering column device of this invention configured as described above has both ends of the upper steering shaft supported in the upper part of the steering column so as to be rotatable but immovable in the axial direction, and the lower steering shaft is supported at the center of the steering column. Since it is connected to the upper steering shaft higher up by a universal joint, and the lower steering shaft can swing freely around this universal joint, there is no excessive tensile or compressive force acting on each shaft or universal joint. Even if the intermediate shaft is integrated, the steering wheel will not swing or make abnormal noises, and the bearings that support the steering shaft will not be damaged and the sealing performance of the universal joint will deteriorate early. It has the effect of not having any effect.

In addition, the steering column is sufficiently long and is fixed to the vehicle body at two points separated by a predetermined distance using the upper and lower brackets, ensuring steering rigidity and preventing steering wheel shake, etc. No problems will occur.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the steering column device according to this invention, FIG. 2 is an overall side view of the steering column device of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4, a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment, is an explanatory view of an example in which the steering column device according to the invention is used in a power steering device. 1... Upper steering shaft, 2... Lower steering shaft, 9... Steering wheel, 10, 14, 17... Universal joint, 15...
Steering gear, 16... Steering gear input shaft, 18... Intermediate shaft.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A steering shaft having a steering wheel attached to its upper end is rotatably supported on a cylindrical tube-shaped steering column, an intermediate shaft is disposed between a lower end of the steering shaft and an input shaft of a steering gear, and the intermediate shaft is connected to the steering shaft. and a steering column device connected to the input shaft of the steering gear via a universal joint, the steering shaft comprising an upper steering shaft and a lower steering shaft, the upper steering shaft having both ends connected to an upper portion of the steering column. is supported so as to be rotatable and immovable in the axial direction, and the lower steering shaft is connected to the upper steering shaft by a universal joint inside the steering column and is swingable about the universal joint as a fulcrum. A steering column device featuring: