JPH061112U - Car steering column support device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] When the steering column is supported by the brace against the front wall of the passenger compartment, the support of the steering column by the brace is strengthened during normal traveling, When the brace receives a large impact from the front wall side of the passenger compartment, the plate-shaped portion of the brace smoothly buckles so that the impact is effectively absorbed. [Structure] A steering column 10 is supported by a front cowl 3 of a vehicle compartment 2 via a brace 11. The left side plate 32 and / or the right side plate 3 forming the brace 11
An opening 37 is formed at 3. Opening edge 38 of this opening 37
Is bent over the general parts 32a, 33a of the left side plate 32 and / or the right side plate 33 over substantially the entire circumference thereof.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a support device for supporting a steering column with a brace against a front wall of a vehicle compartment.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 A conventional steering column support device for an automobile is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 59-831665. According to this, a sheet metal brace is provided so as to project rearward from the front wall of the vehicle compartment, the steering column is supported on the protruding end side of the brace, and the steering shaft is supported on the steering column. A steering handle is attached to this steering shaft. Further, an opening is formed in a plate-shaped portion that constitutes the brace. When a large impact is applied to the steering column side from the front wall side of the passenger compartment through the brace, such as when an automobile collides, the presence of the opening causes the plate-shaped portion to move smoothly. The above-mentioned impact is effectively absorbed by buckling. Therefore, the steering column and the steering wheel are prevented from protruding rearward due to the above-mentioned impact.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, when an impact is applied, the buckling is smoothly progressed by the opening formed in the plate-shaped portion of the brace. There is a risk that the rigidity of the box-shaped parts will decrease, and the supporting strength of the steering column due to the braces will tend to be insufficient during normal driving.

[0004]

[The purpose of the device]

 The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and when the steering column is supported by the brace against the front wall of the vehicle compartment, the support of the steering column by the brace is usually While making it strong during running, when the brace receives a large impact from the front wall side of the passenger compartment, the plate-shaped portion of the brace smoothly buckles and the impact is effectively absorbed. It is intended to be done.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The feature of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is that the steering column is supported on the protruding end side of the brace protruding from the front wall of the vehicle compartment, and the opening is formed in the plate-shaped portion constituting the brace. In this case, the opening edge of the opening is located at a point where the plate edge is bent over substantially the entire circumference of the general portion of the plate-like portion.

[0006]

[Work]

 The operation of the above configuration is as follows. The terms in parentheses below correspond to the terms in the scope of claims for utility model registration. The steering column 10 is supported on the protruding end side of the brace 11 which is projected from the front cowl (front wall) 3 of the vehicle compartment 2, and the left side plate (plate-shaped portion) 32 and / or the right side plate (which constitutes the brace 11) is formed. When the opening 37 is formed in the plate-shaped portion 33, the opening edge 38 of the opening 37 is bent over the entire circumference of the general portion 32a, 33a of the left side plate 32 and / or the right side plate 33. There is. Therefore, by forming the opening 37, the rigidity of the left side plate 32 and / or the right side plate 33 tends to decrease, but by bending the opening edge 38 of the opening 37, The drop is prevented.

On the other hand, the brace 11 receives a shock from the front cowl (front wall) 3 and the dash panel (front wall) 4 side of the passenger compartment 2, and once a part of the opening edge 38 is buckled. After that, stress concentrates on this buckling portion, and the overall buckling of the left side plate 32 and / or the right side plate 33 rapidly progresses. Therefore, when the brace 11 receives a large impact such as a collision, the seat edge of the left side plate 32 and / or the right side plate 33 is irrespective of whether or not the opening edge 38 of the opening 37 is bent to ensure a predetermined rigidity. Bending progresses smoothly.

[0008]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 is the vehicle body of an automobile, and arrow Fr indicates the front thereof. Further, the left and right below mean the direction toward the front. The interior of the vehicle body 1 is a passenger compartment 2, and the front wall of the passenger compartment 2 is composed of a front cowl 3 extending left and right and a dash panel 4 extending downward from the front cowl 3. A lower panel 5 extends rearward from the lower end of the dash panel 4. 7 is a hood, and 8 is a front side door.

A steering column 10 is provided on the right front side of the vehicle compartment 2 so as to extend rearward and upward. The lower end of the steering column 10 is supported on the dash panel 4 side, and the upper end of the steering column 10 is supported on the protruding end side of a brace 11 protruding rearward from the front cowl 3. A steering shaft 13 is rotatably supported on the steering column 10 around its axis, and a steering handle 14 is attached to the upper end of the steering shaft 13. When the driver rotates the steering handle 14, the front wheels are steered via the steering shaft 13 in response to this.

1 to 3, the left and right side walls of the front portion of the vehicle compartment 2 are composed of left and right front pillars 15 and 16, and the left and right front pillars 15 and 16 are used to support the steering column 10. The long body 17 is installed. The brace 11 is supported on the left and right midway portions of the elongated body 17.

In all the figures, the elongated body 17 includes a circular pipe-shaped first support member 19 projecting from the left front pillar 15 toward the left and right center sides of the vehicle compartment 2 and a front pillar 16 on the right side. It is configured with a second support member 20 that protrudes toward the left and right center sides of the passenger compartment 2. In this case, the left end of the first support member 19 is detachably screwed to the front pillar 15 by a bolt 21. The protruding end side 19a of the first supporting member 19 is internally fitted to the protruding end side of the second supporting member 20 and is connected to the protruding end side. The projecting end side 19a of the first supporting member 19 passes through the inside of the second supporting member 20 and extends toward the front pillar 16 on the right side. The cross-sectional shape of the extending portion 22 is substantially the same as that of the first supporting member 19, and an outward flange 23 is welded to the extending end of the extending portion 22. It is detachably screwed to the front pillar 16.

The second support member 20 is made of sheet metal and is composed of an upper member 26 and a lower member 27. The left halves 26a and 27a of the upper member 26 and the lower member 27 constitute the projecting end side of the second supporting member 20. The left halves 26a and 27a each have a substantially semicircular cross section. The protruding end side 19a of the first supporting member 19 is internally fitted so as to be surface-bonded, and is welded to the protruding end side 19a of the first supporting member 19. The right halves 26b and 27b of the upper member 26 and the lower member 27 each have a substantially hat-shaped cross section, and are joined by spot welding from above and below, whereby the right halves 26b and 27b as a whole are box-shaped. It is shaped. An outward flange 28 is formed at the right end of each of the right halves 26b and 27b. The outward flange 28 is overlapped with the outward flange 23 and is fastened to the front pillar 16 together with the bolt 24. .

In the above case, the extending portion 22 reinforces the second supporting material 20, and the strength of the second supporting material 20 is improved. In addition, the second support member 20 has a larger cross-sectional shape than the first support member 19, and the extending portion 22 extending from the first support member 19 is provided in the second support member 20. Therefore, the improvement in the strength of the second support member 20 described above is achieved without increasing the cross-sectional shape of the second support member 20, and the support of the steering column 10 is strengthened without narrowing the passenger compartment 2. ing.

Since the second supporting member 20 is reinforced by the extending portion 22 as described above, the cross-sectional shape of the second supporting member 20 is reduced by that amount. The cross-sectional change in the middle part in the longitudinal direction is suppressed to be small. This prevents the stress concentration from being likely to occur in the middle portion of the elongated body 17 in the longitudinal direction.

1 to 4, the brace 11 is made of sheet metal, and the brace 11 includes a front plate 31 screwed to the front cowl 3 with a bolt 30, and a rear end from the left end of the front plate 31. The left side plate 32, the right side plate 33 extending rearward from the right end of the front plate 31, and the bracket plate 34 provided so as to connect the left side plate 32 and the rear parts of the right side plate 33. It consists of and. Then, the steering column 10 is screwed to the bracket plate 34 with a bolt 35, whereby the steering column 10 is supported on the protruding end side of the brace 11 as described above.

In the above case, the left and right midway portions of the elongated body 17 are vertically sandwiched between the rear portions of the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33 and the bracket plate 34, and welded to each other. As a result, as described above, the brace 11 is firmly supported on the left and right midway portions of the elongated body 17, and the brace 11 is reinforced. Further, in this case, the brace 11 is supported at a portion where the protruding end side 19a of the first supporting member 19 and the left halves 26a, 27a of the upper and lower members 26, 27 of the second supporting member 20 are joined. ing.

The right side plate 33 extends substantially straight forward and backward. On the other hand, the left side plate 32 is inclined toward the left side as it goes rearward, and the left side plate 32 is connected to the elongated body 17 extending left and right at an acute angle θ, as shown in FIG. There is. Circular openings 37 are formed through the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33, which are plate-shaped portions forming the brace 11. Further, the opening edge 38 of the opening 37 is burred (bent) to the general portions 32a, 33a of the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33 over the entire circumference thereof to form a flat truncated cone shape. It has a tubular portion 39 and a narrow-width inward flange 40 integrally formed with the protruding end of the tubular portion 39.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, the rigidity of the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33 tends to be lowered by forming the opening 37, but as described above, the opening edge 38 of the opening 37 is formed. By bending, the rigidity is prevented from lowering. Therefore, during normal driving, the brace 11 firmly supports the steering column 10.

On the other hand, when the brace 11 receives an impact from the front cowl 3 side and the dash panel 4 side and once a part of the opening edge 38 is buckled, thereafter, a stress is applied to this buckling portion. In a concentrated manner, the overall buckling of the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33 rapidly progresses. Therefore, when a large impact is applied to the brace 11 at the time of a collision, the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33 are smoothly seated even though the opening edge 38 of the opening 37 is bent to ensure a predetermined rigidity. The above-mentioned impact is effectively absorbed.

Although the above is based on the illustrated example, the left side plate 32 may be inclined so as to be substantially parallel to the right side plate 33, and the inward flange 40 at the opening edge 38 of the opening 37 may be omitted. Good. By doing so, the above-mentioned shock absorption can be more effectively performed. Further, the tubular portion 39 and the inward flange 40 may be provided over substantially the entire circumference of the opening edge 38, that is, may be provided over the entire circumference as in the above embodiment, but the tubular portion 39 and the inward flange 40 may be provided over a part of the entire circumference. There may be a portion where the portion 39 and the inward flange 40 do not exist. Further, the opening 37 may be provided only on one of the left side plate 32 and the right side plate 33.

[0021]

[Effect of device]

 According to this invention, when the steering column is supported on the front wall of the passenger compartment through the brace and the opening is formed in the plate-shaped portion that constitutes the brace, the opening edge of the opening is formed into the plate-shaped portion. Since the general portion is bent over substantially the entire circumference, a predetermined rigidity is secured in the plate-shaped portion as compared with the case where the opening is simply formed in the plate-shaped portion. That is, the rigidity of the plate-shaped portion tends to be lowered by forming the opening, but the rigidity is prevented from being lowered by bending the opening edge of the opening. Therefore, during normal traveling, the brace firmly supports the steering column.

On the other hand, when the brace receives an impact from the front wall side of the vehicle compartment and buckling occurs at a part of the opening edge, thereafter, stress concentrates on the buckling portion, and The overall buckling of the plate-shaped part will proceed rapidly. Therefore, when a large shock is applied to the brace, such as during a collision, the plate-shaped portion will buckle smoothly and the shock will not occur even if the opening edge of the opening is bent to ensure a predetermined rigidity. Is effectively absorbed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a plane.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a view of a long body as viewed from the rear.

FIG. 4 is a side view.

5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.

6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 vehicle body 2 vehicle compartment 3 front cowl (front wall) 4 dash panel (front wall) 10 steering column 11 brace 13 steering shaft 14 steering handle 32 left side plate (plate-shaped part) 32a general part 33 right side plate (plate-shaped part) ) 33a General part 34 Bracket plate (projecting end side) 37 Opening 38 Opening edge

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A brace made of sheet metal is provided so as to project rearward from a front wall of a vehicle compartment, a steering column is supported on a protruding end side of the brace, and an opening is formed in a plate-shaped portion constituting the brace. In the steering column supporting device for an automobile, the opening edge of the opening is set to the general portion of the plate-like portion,
An automobile steering column support device that is bent over almost the entire circumference.