JPH0534178B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a wheel pad of a steering wheel that incorporates and holds an impact energy absorber (hereinafter referred to as an E/A body) made of brittle plastic.

<Prior art> Conventionally, in an automobile steering wheel in which an E/A body made of brittle plastic is provided on a boss portion,
The E/A body is held within a box-shaped cover pad using a bracket, and the wheel pad containing the E/A body is assembled onto the boss portion. Further, the bracket used at this time is divided into an upper bracket and a lower bracket and is made of sheet metal or the like.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Therefore, when assembling the E/A body to the cover pad, first insert the upper bracket into the face-down cover pad, and then insert the E/A body into the upper bracket. Then, place the lower bracket on top of it, align the cover pad with the mounting holes drilled in the upper and lower brackets, and while holding these in place, insert the screws into the mounting holes. It is then tightened and fixed. For this reason, while inserting the screws into the mounting holes, the operator must manually fix the upper and lower brackets in place, making the assembly process complicated and inefficient. Even if automatic assembly is performed using a screw tightening device, the bracket and E/A are used in addition to the screw tightening device.
A jig or the like to hold the body is required, which increases the size of the device and increases costs.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and is configured as follows in order to solve the problems.

That is, the present invention provides a wheel pad for a steering wheel in which an E/A body made of brittle plastic is mounted inside a cover pad using an upper bracket and a lower bracket, and a temporary fixing fitting is provided on the mating surface of the upper bracket and the lower bracket. A mating claw or a fitting hole is provided to temporarily fix the upper bracket and lower bracket during assembly.

As a result, when assembling the E/A body into the cover pad, the operator can easily assemble the E/A body without having to support the upper and lower brackets. Conventional automatic assembly equipment that does not have tools can be used, and automatic assembly is possible.

<Example> An example of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of a wheel pad of a steering wheel incorporating an E/A body. 1
is a cover pad made of soft synthetic resin made of soft polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, or their foam, and is box-shaped so as to house the E/A body 4 inside, and a resin insert made of hard plastic is inserted into the cover pad. It has a shape retention function. Reference numeral 2 denotes a sheet metal upper bracket formed to hold the upper part of the E/A body 4 and to be placed in a fixed position within the cover pad 1. As shown in Fig. 2, there are two brackets at the front end of the bracket. Mounting legs 21 and 22 are provided, and fitting holes 21a and 22a for temporary fixing and mounting holes 21b and 22b for fixing screws are bored in the flat portions of the tips of the mounting legs 21 and 22, respectively. moreover,
Attachment holes 23a, 24b for fixing screws and fitting claws 24a, 24b for temporary fixing are provided in the flat part of the rear part of the upper bracket 2, which is one step lower. A contact plate 25 for a horn switch is movably attached to the upper part of the upper bracket 2. E/
The A body 4 is made of brittle plastic such as hard polyurethane foam or polystyrene, and is formed into a shape capable of absorbing a predetermined impact load.

3 is a lower bracket that is assembled under the upper bracket 2 and holds the E/A body 4 inside, and is made of a spring steel plate with the front and rear ends bent upward, as shown in Fig. 2. The main body part 31 and the main body part 3
1, and a rear mounting portion 33 that is fixed to the tip of the rear end bending portion of the main body portion 31. Mounting holes 32a and 32b for fixing screws are bored on both sides of the flat part of the front mounting part 32, and fitting claws 32c that fit into the fitting holes 21a and 22a of the upper bracket 2 are provided on the inner side thereof.
32d is provided. In addition, mounting holes 33a and 33b for fixing screws are provided at locations that protrude laterally from the flat part of the rear mounting portion 33, and holes 33a and 33b for fixing screws are provided on the inner side thereof, and fitting claws 24a and 24b of the upper bracket 2 are fitted into the mounting holes 33a and 33b. Fitting holes 33c and 33d are provided. In addition, 34 is a hook fixed on the rear mounting part 33, and 35 is a hook provided on the front lower side of the main body part 31, which is used when the wheel pad 10 is fitted to the boss part of the steering wheel body. It will be done.

Each component of the wheel pad 10 constructed as described above is assembled as follows.

First, the upper bracket 2 is placed inside the cover pad 1 which is turned inside out, and the E/A body 4 is placed inside it.
Insert the lower bracket 3 so as to cover the E/A body, and attach the fitting claws 32c and 32d of the front mounting part 32 of the lower bracket 3 to the upper bracket 2.
the fitting holes 21a, 22a of the mounting legs 21, 22 of
to fit. At this time, since the main body part 31 of the lower bracket 3 is made of a spring steel plate and has spring elasticity, the front and rear parts of the lower bracket 3 are appropriately bent, and the fitting claws and the fitting holes on both sides are easily fitted. In addition, by biasing the front mounting part 32 and the rear mounting part 33 in a direction slightly opened by the spring force of the lower bracket 3 after mating, the engagement between the mating claw and the mating hole is reliably maintained. be done. With the upper bracket 2 and lower bracket 3 temporarily fixed in this way, four screws 36 are inserted into each mounting hole, and each screw 36 is inserted into a nut (not shown) buried in the resin insert of the cover pad 1. The wheel pad 10 is constructed with the upper bracket 2 and lower bracket 3 holding the E/A body 4 by screwing them together. When inserting the screw 36, the upper bracket 2 and lower bracket 3 are temporarily fixed, so the operator does not need to hold down the lower bracket or other members with his/her hands.
Screws can be easily tightened, and even when an automatic screw tightening device is used, the screws can be automatically tightened without requiring a holding jig or the like.

Note that the upper bracket 2 and lower bracket 3 may be fixed by rivets, caulking, etc. in addition to the screws described above.

FIG. 3 shows an upper bracket 5 and a lower bracket 6 of another embodiment, and in this example, a fitting claw 5a is provided at the front part of the upper bracket 5 (on the right side of FIG. 3).
A fitting hole 6a is provided in the front part of the lower bracket 6 to be fitted with the fitting claw 5, and a fitting hole 5b is provided in the rear part of the upper bracket 5 (on the left side in FIG. 3) to be fitted in the rear part of the lower bracket 6. A claw 6b is provided to fit into the fitting hole 5b. In this embodiment as well, the upper bracket 5 and lower bracket 6 can be temporarily fixed in the same manner as described above.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the wheel pad of the steering wheel of the present invention, the upper bracket and the lower bracket holding the E/A body can be temporarily fixed in position within the cover pad, which is different from the conventional one. Thus, there is no need for the operator to hold the bracket or the like by hand while inserting screws or the like into the mounting holes to fix it, which simplifies the assembly work of each member of the wheel pad and improves workability. Further, since the bracket can be temporarily fixed at the assembly position, an automatic assembly apparatus without a holding jig or the like can be used, and automatic assembly can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a wheel pad, Fig. 2 is an assembled perspective view of an upper bracket and a lower bracket, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a bracket of another embodiment. . 1...Cover pad, 2...Upper bracket,
3...Lower bracket, 4...E/A body, 24
a, 24b, 32c, 32d... Fitting claw, 21
a, 22a, 33c, 33d...Fitting holes.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wheel pad for a steering wheel in which an impact energy absorber made of brittle plastic is installed inside a cover pad using an upper bracket and a lower bracket, and a temporary fixing pad that is mutually fitted into the mating surfaces of the upper bracket and lower bracket. A wheel pad for a steering wheel, characterized in that a fitting pawl or a fitting hole is provided respectively.