JPH061246A - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position a pad body correctly to a steering wheel body so as to be fitted with desirable work performance. CONSTITUTION:A supporting piece part 57 is protrusively provided downward from a horn plate 25 fitted to the boss part 11 of a steering wheel body. A bracket 55 is fitted to the lower face of a pad body 51, and a fitting piece part 57 is protrusively provided downward. When the pad body 51 is aligned and pushed in downward, a positioning guide face part 63 inclined downward inside the bracket 55 comes in contact with a contact part 40 at the lower end of the supporting piece part 36 so as to be placed in the temporarily fixed state. The screw part 68 of a fitting screw 67 is inserted through the elongated hole 61 of the fitting piece part 57 so as to be screwed with the threaded hole 38 of the supporting piece part 36. When the fitting screw 67 is tightened, the bracket 55 is pressed inward by this tightening force, and the pad body 51 is pushed downward along the positioning guide face part 63 so as to be positioned and fixed tightly.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel for vehicles such as automobiles, and more particularly to a pad body mounting structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a steering wheel for a vehicle such as an automobile, a structure disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-69658 has been known. In this steering wheel, a plurality of mounting parts are provided on the steering wheel main body side, screw holes are formed in these mounting parts, and a bracket corresponding to each mounting part is formed from a pad body mounted on the upper part of the steering wheel main body. Protruding,
Mounting holes are formed in these brackets. And
With the mounting holes of the bracket of the pad body aligned with the screw holes of the mounting part on the steering wheel body side, insert the mounting screw from the outside of the bracket into the mounting hole, and screw it into the screw hole of the mounting part. The pad body is attached to the steering wheel body.

[0003]

In the above conventional structure, the mounting structure parts such as the mounting portion and the bracket are often made by metal pressing, and due to the integration tolerance of each part,
It is difficult to completely match the mounting surface and the mounting point of the mounting portion and the bracket.

If the screw hole of the mounting portion and the mounting hole of the bracket are not accurately aligned, the mounting screw inserted through the mounting hole cannot be screwed into the screw hole of the mounting portion and, for example, one side. When the mounting holes and screw holes are aligned and fastened with the mounting screws, the pad body tilts with respect to the steering wheel body, and therefore the pad body is secured to the steering wheel body during fastening work on the other side. There is a problem that the workability of attaching the pad body to the steering wheel body is poor, because the work must be performed while pressing it strongly.

Further, when the pad body constitutes a push button of the horn switch mechanism, that is, when the mounting portion on the steering wheel body side where the pad body is mounted is on the movable contact side of the horn switch mechanism, the pad body is formed. The slight tilt of the horn affects the operability of the horn, so it is necessary to control the occurrence of the slight tilt.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel in which the pad body is accurately aligned with the steering wheel main body to be mounted with good workability.

[0007]

A steering wheel according to the present invention is a steering wheel in which a pad body is attached to an upper portion of a steering wheel main body, the abutting portion and the outer portion being provided on the steering wheel main body side and formed on the outer side. A plurality of mounting portions each having a screw hole that opens toward one side, a guide portion that is provided so as to project downward from the pad body, and that is inclined inward toward the inside facing the abutting portion of each mounting portion and each of the mounting portions. A bracket having an elongated hole facing the screw hole of the mounting portion, a threaded portion that is inserted into the elongated hole of the bracket and screwed into the screw hole of the mounting portion, and a large diameter portion that abuts the outer surface of the bracket. And the mounting screw.

[0008]

In the steering wheel of the present invention, when the pad body is mounted on the upper portion of the steering wheel main body, the abutment portion formed on the mounting portion on the steering wheel main body side and the guide portion inclined downward inward of the bracket are provided. In a state where they are temporarily fixed to each other, the threaded portion of the mounting screw is inserted into the elongated hole of the bracket and screwed into the threaded hole of the mounting portion. When this mounting screw is tightened, the large-diameter part of the mounting screw contacts the outer surface of the bracket by this tightening force and presses the bracket inward, the guide part is pressed against the contact part, and the inclination of this guide part The bracket is pushed down accordingly. As a result, the pad body is pushed down and positioned, and is fixed by tightening.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of one embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a boss portion which constitutes a steering wheel main body, and the boss portion 11 is located at the center of the steering wheel main body and has, for example, four spoke portions on an annular rim portion (not shown). Are connected through. Further, a cylindrical boss 12 fitted to a steering shaft (not shown) is provided at the center of the lower portion (vehicle side) of the boss portion 11, and spokes are provided on a fixed portion 14 formed integrally with the boss 12. The core metal of each portion is fixed, and the horn switch mounting portions 15 that make a pair on the front and rear sides are provided so as to protrude upward along the core metal of each spoke portion. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, fixed contact portions 21 and screw holes 22 are formed in these horn switch mounting portions 15.

Further, 25 is a pair of horn plates on both sides,
These horn plates 25 are made of a metal plate having a longitudinal direction in the front-rear direction, and have mounting holes 26 in the vicinity of the front-rear ends.
Further, a movable contact portion 27 protruding downward is formed, and an insulator 31 is fitted in each mounting hole 26. Each insulator 31
Contact the upper and lower surfaces of the horn plate 25 to insulate the inside and peripheral portions of the mounting hole 26, and the mounting hole 26 of the horn plate 25
A sliding hole 32 is formed coaxially with the horn plate 25, and a positioning projection 33 is projected upward.
Locking pins 35 that are locked to the notches 27a formed on both sides of the movable contact portion 27 are provided so as to project downward. Further, a rectangular plate-shaped support piece portion 36 as a mounting portion is provided so as to project downward from one side portion of the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of each horn plate 25, and a circle formed in the support piece portion 36. A nut body 39 having a screw hole 38 is fixed to the hole 37, and the lower end portion of the supporting piece portion 36 serves as an abutting portion 40.

Further, 41 is a stepped bolt, which is a stepped bolt.
41 has a large diameter head 43 at one end in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical shaft 42.
And a small-diameter threaded portion 44 is formed at the other end in the longitudinal direction. The stepped bolt 41 allows the shaft portion 42 to be slidably inserted into the sliding hole 32 of the insulator 31 and the coil-shaped spring body 46 to be inserted so that the head portion 43 contacts the upper surface of the insulator 31. The screw portion 44 is fixed by being screwed into the screw hole 22 of the horn switch mounting portion 15 in a state of releasably abutting.

In this state, the horn plate 25 is urged upward by the spring body 46 and the shaft portion of the stepped bolt 41.
The fixed contact portion 21 and the movable contact portion 27 forming the horn switch come in contact with and separate from each other by moving up and down along 42.

The diameter of the sliding hole 32 of the insulator 31 is slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft portion 42 of the step bolt 41, and the horn plate 25 extends in the longitudinal direction of the shaft portion 42 of the step bolt 41. It can also move slightly in the direction intersecting.

The lower surface and the side surface of the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel body are covered with a lower cover 48.

Further, 51 is a pad body, and this pad body 51
Is configured by covering an upper portion of the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel main body and attaching a cover body 53 made of a synthetic resin or the like to an upper portion of a base plate 52 made of a metal plate or the like. An air bag device (not shown) is incorporated in the base plate 52, and the cover body 53 of the pad body 51 functions as a cover body of the air bag device and a push button (horn pad) of the horn switch device. It also has the function as.

The base plate of the pad body 51
On the underside of 52, a pair of brackets 55
Are fixed by rivets 56 and the like. Then, a position where the bracket 55 comes into contact with the outside of the supporting piece 36 of the horn plate 25 attached to the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel body and fits downward from one side of the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the bracket 55. A substantially rectangular plate-shaped mounting piece 57 is provided on the base plate.

Each attachment piece 57 has a vertically long slot 61 formed at a position facing the screw hole 38 of the support piece 36, and the lower end of the attachment piece 57 is substantially hollow. A positioning guide surface portion 63 as a guide portion inclined downward toward the inside is formed on the inner side surface of the horn plate 25 facing the support piece portion 36 side, and the lower end of the positioning guide surface portion 63 is bent. An insertion guide surface portion 65 that is inclined downward from the portion 64 to the outside is formed.

The pad body 51 is positioned at the height position with the positioning projection 33 of the insulator 31 abutting on the lower surface of the bracket 55 attached to the base plate 52, and the mounting piece 57 of the bracket 55 is attached. With the inner surface abutting on the outer surface of the support piece 36 of the horn plate 25 and the horizontal position being positioned, the long hole 61 is formed from the outside of the mounting piece 57 of the bracket 55.
The screw 68 of the mounting screw 67 inserted in the horn plate 25
The washer 69 as a large-diameter large part attached to the mounting screw 67 is screwed into the screw hole 38 of the supporting piece 36 of
It is attached to the upper portion of the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel body while being in contact with the outer surface of the attachment piece portion 57 of the 55.

Next, the boss portion of the steering wheel body
An attaching operation for attaching the pad body 51 to the upper part of 11 will be described.

First, in a state in which the steering wheel body having the horn plate 25 and the like assembled therein is held substantially horizontally,
The supporting piece 36 of the horn plate 25 and the mounting piece 57 of the bracket 55 of the pad body 51 are aligned in horizontal position, and the pad body 51 is pushed downward.

In the process of pushing the pad body 51 downward, first, the insertion guide surface portion 65 formed at the lower end portion of the mounting piece portion 57 of the bracket 55 comes into contact with the upper portion of the support piece portion 36 of the horn plate 25, Move the horn plate 25 slightly inward. When the pad body 51 is pushed further downward, the bent portion 64 of the lower portion of the bracket 55 comes into sliding contact with the outer surface of the support piece portion 36 of the horn plate 25, and the bent portion 64 abuts the lower end portion of the support piece portion 36. As shown in FIG. 3, while passing through the section 40,
The position of the pad body 51 is provisionally determined in a state where the positioning guide surface portion 63 abuts on the abutting portion 40 of the support piece portion 36 and the screw hole 38 of the support piece portion 36 and the elongated hole 61 of the mounting piece portion 57 communicate with each other. It

Then, the screw portion 68 of the mounting screw 67 is inserted into the elongated hole 61 from the outside of the mounting piece portion 57 of the bracket 55, and the screw portion 68 is screwed into the screw hole 38 of the supporting piece portion 36 of the horn plate 25. To do. Then, when the mounting screw 67 is tightened, the washer 69 mounted on the mounting screw 67 abuts the outer surface of the mounting piece portion 57 of the bracket 55 and presses the mounting piece portion 57 of the bracket 55 inward. In this state, the inclined positioning guide surface portion 63 of the lower end portion of the mounting piece portion 57 is pressed into contact with the contact portion 40 of the support piece portion 36, and the positioning guide surface portion 63 and the contact portion 40 are in sliding contact with each other. The bracket 55 is pushed down, whereby the pad body 51 is pushed down and fixed by tightening.

Then, in the process in which the bracket 55 is pushed downward, the positioning protrusion 33 of the insulator 31 attached to the horn plate 25 is attached to the base plate 52.
The pad 51 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the pad 51, and the height position of the pad 51 is accurately positioned.

According to the steering wheel of this embodiment, the mounting piece 57 of the bracket 55 of the pad body 51 is temporarily fixed to the supporting piece 36 of the horn plate 25 mounted on the boss 11 of the steering wheel body. And the mounting screw 67
Insert the threaded portion 68 of the
By screwing into the screw hole 38 of 36 and tightening, the pad 51 is pushed down by the tightening force for screwing the mounting screw 67,
The height position of the pad body 51 can be accurately positioned and can be fixed by tightening. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to perform screwing work while pressing the pad body 51, and the workability of attaching the pad body 51 to the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel body can be improved.

The boss portion of the steering wheel body
Even when the horn plates 25 are arranged on both sides of 11 and the mounting screws 67 are tightened on each side, the threaded portion 68 of the mounting screw 67 is connected to the screw hole 38 of the horn plate 25 through the long hole 61 of the bracket 55.
It can be easily screwed in and tightened.

Since the inclined insertion guide surface portion 65 is formed at the lower end portion of the mounting piece portion 57 of the bracket 55, when the pad body 51 is pushed downward to be temporarily fixed, this insertion guide surface portion 65 is used. The work can be facilitated by contacting the upper portion of the support piece portion 36 and serving as a guide.

An insulator attached to the horn plate 25
Since the diameter of the sliding hole 32 of 31 is made slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft portion 42 of the stepped bolt 41, the horn plate 25 is movably supported inward. Therefore, even when the bracket 55 having the bent portion 64 at the lower end portion protruding inward is formed of a strong member that is resistant to deformation and resistant to the impact of the deployment of the airbag, the pad body 51 is provided with a support piece for the horn plate 25. Part 36
Can be easily pushed down along the.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, a bracket 70 and a horn plate 71 having different shapes are used in place of the horn plate 25 and the bracket 55 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and the bracket 70 is mounted in a plate shape. A long hole 73 that is long in the vertical direction is formed in the piece 72, and the mounting piece 72
From the lower ends of the both ends in the width direction, triangular plate-shaped protrusions 74 are respectively formed to be bent inward, and the upper surfaces of these protrusions 74 serve as positioning guides 75 that are inclined inward downward. The lower surface of each of the protrusions 74 serves as an insertion guide portion 76 that is inclined downward toward the outside. A notch 77 is formed on the upper portion of each of the protrusions 74, the notch 77 extending inward in the width direction of the attachment piece 72.

Further, the supporting piece portion 78 of the horn plate 71 is provided with a screw hole 79 corresponding to the long hole 73,
Brackets are provided on the lower ends of the widthwise ends of the support piece 78.
A notch portion 80 with which each protruding portion 74 of the 70 is engaged is formed, and an upper end edge portion of each notch portion 80 serves as a contact portion 81.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in addition to the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the pad body 51 is formed by the engagement of the protruding portion 74 of the bracket 70 and the cutout portion 80 of the horn plate 71.
The front and rear positions of can also be positioned.

Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, instead of the horn plate 25 and the bracket 55 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a bracket 85 and a horn plate 86 having different shapes are used, and a plate-like mounting piece portion of the bracket 85 is used. The lower portion 87a is formed so that the lower portion 87a protrudes more inward than the upper portion 87b via a guide step portion 88 that is formed to be inclined downward inward at an intermediate position in the vertical direction. And this lower part 87a
A long hole 89 that is long in the up-down direction is formed in the.

Further, the supporting piece 92 of the horn plate 86 is provided with a screw hole 94 corresponding to the elongated hole 89 in the vicinity of the lower end, and the vicinity of the upper end is bent outwardly downward to insert guide surface portion 95. A contact surface portion 96 is formed below the insertion guide surface portion 95 and is bent inward and downward.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the pad body 51 is aligned and pushed down, the lower end portion of the mounting piece portion 87 of the bracket 85 abuts on the insertion guide surface portion 95 of the horn plate 86, and the horn plate 86. Move inward. Then, the guide step 88 of the bracket 85 is the horn plate 86.
The pad body 51 is temporarily fixed in a state of being in contact with the contact surface portion 96 of. Then, in this state, the threaded portion 68 of the mounting screw 67 is inserted into the elongated hole 89 and screwed into the threaded hole 94 of the horn plate 86 to be tightened, whereby the guide stepped portion 88 of the bracket 85 inclined downward inward respectively. Is the contact surface of the horn plate 86
The horn plate 86 is pressed down against the 96, and the horn plate 86 is pushed downward, so that the pad body 51 can be positioned and clamped and fixed.

In each of the above embodiments, the washer 69 attached to the mounting screw 67 has a large diameter portion. However, without mounting such a washer 69, the large diameter head of the mounting screw 67 is directly attached. The bracket 55, 70, 85 can also be brought into contact with the outer surface of the mounting piece 57, 72, 87.

[0038]

According to the steering wheel of the present invention, when the pad body is temporarily fixed to the steering wheel body, the mounting screw is screwed and tightened, and the pad body is tightened by the screwing force. Can be pressed down for accurate positioning and clamping. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to perform the screwing work while pressing the pad body, and the workability of attaching the pad body to the steering wheel body can be improved. Also, for example, when mounting parts are arranged on both sides of the steering wheel body and the mounting screws are tightened on each side, the threaded part of the mounting screw can be easily screwed into the threaded hole of the mounting part through the long hole of the bracket. Can be tightened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing an embodiment of a steering wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the above steering wheel.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the assembling process of the steering wheel of the above.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing still another embodiment of the steering wheel of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Boss part that constitutes the steering wheel body 36 Support piece part as mounting part 38 Screw hole 40 Abutment part 51 Pad body 55 Bracket 61 Long hole 63 Positioning guide surface part as guide part 67 Mounting screw 68 Screw part 69 Large diameter part Washer as

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A steering wheel having a pad body mounted on an upper portion of a steering wheel body, wherein a plurality of steering wheel bodies are provided on the steering wheel body side and have an abutting portion formed on the outside and a screw hole opening to the outside. Mounting part, a downwardly projecting portion from the pad body, a guide part inclined downward toward the inside facing the contact part of each mounting part, and a long hole facing the screw hole of each mounting part. And a mounting screw having a large diameter portion that abuts on an outer surface of the bracket and a screw portion that is inserted into the long hole of the bracket and screwed into the screw hole of the mounting portion. Steering wheel.