JPH0621811Y2 - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a steering wheel, and more particularly to a steering wheel having an energy absorbing member on the back surface of a pad portion.

(Prior Art) There is a steering wheel in which an energy absorbing member is provided on the back side of a pad portion of a steering wheel so that when the impact force is applied to the pad portion, the energy due to the impact can be absorbed. Conventionally, there are two types of energy absorbing members, one made of metal sheet metal and one made of brittle plastic such as rigid foamed urethane foam. It is fixed by a screw or the like through a metal bracket that holds itself, absorbs energy caused by each impact, and does not separate from the pad portion even if an impact force is received.

Further, the pad portion has a hard insert inside in order to maintain the outer shape of the front portion thereof, and the outer portion thereof is covered with a soft cover body. And
Some inserts have ribs provided inward to provide a reinforcing structure.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, when the inward ribs are provided on the front surface of the pad portion as described above, there is a possibility that the ribs may contact the internal energy absorbing member, and the rear surface of the front portion may be contacted. Was not provided with reinforcing ribs.

Therefore, the front part of the pad part is deformed forward,
There is a problem that a predetermined outer shape of the pad portion cannot be maintained and a gap is generated between the pad portion and the lower cover portion.

It is also possible to suppress the deformation of the front surface of the pad section by increasing the rigidity of the insert itself. However, if the rigidity of the insert itself is increased, an impact force is applied to the pad section and the energy absorbing member is removed. When crushing and deforming in the up-down direction, the deformation is constrained by the insert of the pad part and prevented, so there is a problem that impact energy cannot be absorbed to a predetermined value, and eventually the insert itself There is a problem that the rigidity cannot be increased and the deformation of the front surface of the pad cannot be suppressed.

Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving Problems) Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a hard guide portion on the back surface of the front portion of the pad portion,
To allow the energy absorbing member to move downward in the guide portion and prevent the guide portion from moving forward,
A hard guided portion that extends toward the upper surface of the pad portion and that engages with a surface of the guide portion that faces the front surface is provided, and further, a locking portion is provided on the energy absorbing member,
A steering wheel in which this locking portion is locked to the boss portion is configured.

(Operation) When no impact is applied to the pad portion from above, the guide portion and the guided portion serve to connect the front surface portion of the pad portion and the energy absorbing member. Here, the guide portion is provided on the front surface and the back surface of the pad portion, and the guided portion is provided on the energy absorbing member. Further, both the guide portion and the guided portion are made of a hard material, and the guided portion is engaged with the surface of the guide portion facing the front surface portion. Therefore, the front surface of the pad portion is reinforced by the guide portion, the guided portion, and the energy absorbing member. Therefore, even if the front portion itself has low rigidity, the front portion is prevented from being deformed forward by the reinforcement.

When a shock is applied from above to the upper surface of the pad portion, the upper surface moves downward. Along with this, the energy absorbing member is sandwiched between the pad portion and the boss portion and deforms, and absorbs energy due to impact. At this time, the guided portion and the guide portion relatively move in the vertical direction. Therefore, the deformation of the energy absorbing member is not hindered by the front surface portion of the pad portion, the guide portion, and the guided portion, so that the predetermined impact energy is absorbed by the deformation of the energy absorbing member.

Further, the locking portion of the energy absorbing member is locked to the boss portion. The energy absorbing member is fixed to the pad portion. Therefore, the pad portion is locked to the boss portion via the energy absorbing member and the locking portion. By this locking, the position of the pad portion with respect to the boss portion is regulated.

(Embodiment) An embodiment embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The steering wheel 1 of the present embodiment is arranged so that a boss portion 2 fixed to a tip portion of a steering shaft (not shown) with a nut and a substantially T-shape extending from the boss portion 2 in three directions. From the spoke portion 3, the ring portion 4 supported by each spoke portion 3, the lower cover portion 5 that covers the back side of the boss portion 2, and the pad portion 6 that covers the upper side (left side in FIG. 1) of the boss portion 2. It is configured.

The boss portion 2 is the boss 1 through which the steering shaft is inserted.
1 and a boss plate 13 welded to the boss 11 via a plastically deformable member 12, and a deformed through hole 14 is provided in the center of the boss plate 13.

Further, in the spoke portion 3, a total of three sandwiching members 15 are fixed to the front surface of the central spoke portion mandrel 3a and the upper and left inner surfaces of the lower cover portion 5.

In addition, the pad portion 6 of this embodiment has a substantially T-shaped upper surface portion 16.
And a front part 17 continuous with this, and,
Both parts 16 and 17 are composed of an insert made of PP (polypropylene) and a surface coating material made of soft PVC (polyvinyl chloride). On the back surface of the pad portion 6, a projecting member 18 is fixed at a position corresponding to each sandwiching member 15, and the projecting member 18 is removably locked to the sandwiching member 15 so that the spoke cores A pad portion 6 is fixed to the 3a and the lower cover portion 5.

In addition, a square frame-shaped support base 19 is integrally formed on the back surface of the upper surface portion 16 of the pad portion 6, and the support base 19 is provided with an energy absorbing member 20 formed of a thin metal plate in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame shape. It is fixed by screws 21 on its upper surface.

Further, on the back surface of the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6, two left and right angle members 24 as guide portions are integrally molded together with the insert of the pad portion 6, and both angle members 24 extend in the vertical direction and are respectively left and right. L-shaped groove 2 opened to the
5 and the upper end surface 26 of each L-shaped groove 25 is provided at a considerably upper position.

On the other hand, on the left and right ends of the lower side 22 of the energy absorbing member 20,
A locking piece 27 as a guided portion that is bent upward and protrudes is integrally formed with the lower side 22, and both locking pieces 27 face the front surface portion 17 in the L-shaped groove 25 of the angle member 24. It is engaged with the surface to be moved vertically. Further, in a state where no impact force is applied to the pad portion 6, a certain distance is set between the tip of the locking piece 27 and the upper end surface 26 of the L-shaped groove 25.

It should be noted that, on the back surface of the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6, no convex strips such as reinforcing ribs other than the angle member 24 are provided. Therefore, the pad portion 6 has a required minimum rigidity, but is soft, and is easily deformed by an impact force.

The engagement between the locking piece 27 and the angle member 24 serves to reinforce the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6 by the energy absorbing member 20, and prevents the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6 from deforming forward. It's suppressed.

A locking projection 23, which serves as a locking portion, extends backward once and then bends downward to project at a substantially central portion of the lower side 22 of the front end surface of the energy absorbing member 20.
2 is integrally molded with the boss plate 13 and the locking projection 23 is locked to the front edge of the through hole 14 of the boss plate 13 from above.

By this locking, the pad portion 6 to which the energy absorbing member 20 is fixed is prevented from being lifted up from the steering wheel, and the position of the pad portion 6 and the lower cover portion 5 is regulated.

Next, the operation and effect of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When an impact force is applied to the pad portion 6 from above, the energy absorbing member 20 moves as the pad portion 6 moves downward.
Is sandwiched between the pad portion 6 and the boss plate 13 and is crushed and deformed in the vertical direction to absorb energy due to impact.

At this time, both the locking pieces 27 of the energy absorbing member 20 are engaged with the surfaces of the L-shaped grooves 25 of the both angle members 24 facing the front surface portion 17, while the tips of the locking pieces 27 and the upper end surface 26.
It moves relatively upward until and come into contact with each other (actually, the L-shaped groove 25 moves downward). Therefore, the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6, the angle member 24, and the locking piece 27 do not prevent the energy absorbing member 20 from collapsing and deforming. Therefore, the energy absorbing member 20 absorbs impact energy at a predetermined value. You can Also, regardless of the same crush deformation,
It is also possible to prevent the energy absorbing member 20 from coming off the pad portion 6.

Further, in the present embodiment, no reinforcing ribs or the like are provided on the back surface of the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6, but since the energy absorbing member 20 serves to reinforce the pad portion 6, the front surface portion 17 of the pad portion 6 is provided. Suppress the deformation of.

Further, in the present embodiment, regardless of the movement of the pad portion 6, the locking projection 23 provided on the energy absorbing member 20 is locked from above to the front edge of the through hole 14 of the boss plate 13,
The pad portion 6 to which the energy absorbing member 20 is fixed can be prevented from coming off from the boss plate 13, and the relative position of the pad portion 6 and the lower cover portion 5 is regulated.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and may be embodied by being arbitrarily modified within the scope not departing from the spirit of the invention as follows.

(1) The shape, material and number of the guide portion provided on the back surface of the pad portion 6 can be changed, for example, the angle member can be formed of metal separately, or can be formed into a tubular shape.

(2) As shown in FIG. 4, the energy absorbing member is made of a rigid urethane foam material, and the energy absorbing member 30
The bracket 31 for holding the lock portion 33 and the guided portion 3
7 may be provided, the rear end of the engaging portion may be bent slightly downward to enhance the engaging property with the boss plate 13, or two or more may be provided, and the shape, material, and number may be changed.

Further, the locking portion is not necessarily the through hole 14 of the boss plate 13.
It does not need to be locked to, and may be locked to any part of the boss portion 2.

Effects of the Invention As described in detail above, according to the present invention, not only can the predetermined energy of energy be absorbed by the energy absorbing member, but also the front portion of the pad portion can be prevented from being deformed forward, and It is possible to prevent the pad portion to which the energy absorbing member is fixed from being lifted up from the steering wheel, and to control the positions of the pad portion and the lower cover portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a steering wheel embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a pad portion and an energy absorbing member as viewed from the back side. , FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another example. 2 ... Boss portion, 6 ... Pad portion, 13 ... Boss plate that constitutes a part of the boss portion, 20,30 ... Energy absorbing member, 23,33 ... Locking protrusion as locking portion, 24 …
... Angle members as guide parts, 27, 37 ... Locking pieces as guided parts.

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A boss portion (2), a pad portion (6) formed by rearwardly forming a front face portion (17) on an upper surface portion (16) that covers the boss portion (2) from above, and An energy absorbing member (20, 30) fixed to the back surface of the upper surface portion (16) and located between the boss portion (2) and the pad portion (6) is provided, and an impact from above is applied to the upper surface portion (16). When added, an energy absorbing member (2) is provided between the boss (2) and the pad (6).
0, 30) is deformed in the vertical direction to absorb the energy caused by the impact, and a hard guide portion (24) is provided on the back surface of the front surface portion (17) of the pad portion (6). At the same time, the energy absorbing member (20, 30) is configured to allow the guide portion (24) to move downward and prevent the guide portion (24) from moving forward. 6) Upper surface part (16)
A hard guided part (2) that extends toward
7, 37), and further, the energy absorbing member (2
0, 30) is provided with locking portions (23, 33), and the locking portions (23, 33) are locked to the boss portion (2). 2. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the guide portion is an angle member (24) integrally formed with the pad portion (6) with a synthetic resin. 3. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the engaging portion is an engaging protrusion (23) integrally formed of metal together with the energy absorbing member (20). 4. The guided portion (37) and the locking portion (33)
Is provided on a metal bracket (31) holding an energy absorbing member (30) made of rigid foamed urethane foam.
The steering wheel according to item.