JPH07277200A - Vehicle steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To set strength of a steering wheel without taking account of rigidity of a lower cover. CONSTITUTION:In a vehicular steering wheel formed by fixing a boss part 11 of a steering wheel 1 to the rear end part of a steering shaft 22 turnably attached in a vehicle and mounting a spoke part 12 extending toward an outer periphery from the boss part 11 and mounting a circular wheel part 13 making the boss part 11 a center on the outer end of the spoke part 12 and attaching a lower cover 32 to the vehicle front of the spoke part 12, a notch 42 opposite to the spoke part 12 is mounted in the lower cover 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to an automobile steering wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a conventional steering wheel. 101, 102, 103
Indicate the boss portion, the spoke portion, and the wheel portion of the steering wheel, respectively. Reference numeral 104 denotes a female screw portion provided on the spoke portion 102 for attaching the lower cover. 105 is
The overall shape is a bowl shape and the lower cover is made of polypropylene. The lower cover 105 is attached so as to cover the spoke portion 102 of the steering wheel from the front of the vehicle. The lower cover 105 includes the female screw portion 10 described above.
4 having a through hole in the center thereof at a position corresponding to 4
6 is provided. Reference numeral 107 denotes a screw that fastens the lower cover 105 to the female screw portion 104 of the spoke portion 102. In addition, 108 is the boss portion 10 of the steering wheel.
1 is a horn pad that covers 1 and the spokes 102 from the rear of the vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. Note that FIG. 6 shows a state in which the lower cover 105 is fastened to the steering wheel body. Steering wheel boss portion 101 and spoke portion 102
Are made of metal and are fixed to each other by welding. The wheel portion 103 includes a metal core material 103 a and a core material 103.
a is covered with a resin outer skin portion 109 such as urethane foam, and the outer skin portion 109 further includes a spoke portion 1
02 (109a) is integrally extended to the outer side of 02. The lower cover 105 extends outward from the outer periphery of the boss portion 101 of the steering wheel along the spoke portions 102 in front of the vehicle, and abuts the inner end 109a of the outer skin portion 109 so that the surfaces of the both are continuous. , Improve the appearance.

[0004]

Generally, in a steering wheel, when an impact force is applied to the wheel portion, the spoke portion is deformed, and the impact force of the wheel portion is set to be relaxed. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state of the deformation. The spokes 102 bend forward of the vehicle, and the wheel 103 moves forward of the vehicle with respect to the boss 101. However, at the same time, the spokes 102 come into contact with the outer ends 105a of the lower covers. The lower cover 105 has a substantially bowl-shaped overall shape, and therefore has a considerable rigidity. Therefore, the amount of movement of the wheel portion 103 is reduced by the rigidity of the lower cover 105.
Under the above conditions, in order to ideally set the shock absorbing capacity (capacity) of the steering wheel at the development stage, it is necessary to analyze not only the steering wheel body but also the rigidity of the lower cover and the interaction between the two. Therefore, a great deal of time and labor were required for the development process such as design and experiment.

[0005]

The gist of the present invention for solving the above problems is to fix a boss portion of a steering wheel to a rear end portion of a steering shaft rotatably attached to a vehicle, The spoke part is extended from the part toward the outer periphery,
In a vehicle steering wheel in which a circular wheel portion having the boss portion as a center is provided at the outer end of the spoke portion, and a lower cover is attached to the front of the spoke portion in the vehicle, a notch facing the spoke portion in the lower cover. There is a section.

[0006]

In the vehicle steering wheel of the present invention, when an impact force is applied to the wheel portion, the spoke portion passes through the notch portion of the lower cover even if the spoke portion is deformed so as to reduce the impact force of the wheel portion. However, the interference between the two is avoided.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a vehicle steering system to which the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 1 denotes a steering wheel of an automobile, and 2 denotes a steering column. The steering wheel 1 has a boss portion 11 serving as the center of rotation, three spoke portions 12 extending from the boss portion 11 toward the outer periphery, and a circular shape centered on the boss portion 11 at the outer end of the spoke portion 12. It consists of the wheel portion 13 The main body of the steering column 2 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and its long axis is oriented in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and its front end is inclined downward, and a plurality of bolts (not shown) are provided on the vehicle body. It is fastened and fixed with a nut 21 (partially omitted). On the steering column 2, a steering shaft 22 penetrating its central shaft portion is rotatably supported by a shaft. The rear end 22a of the steering shaft 22 is provided with serrations, and is serrated with a through hole formed in the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel 1. An appropriate number of universal joints 23 are provided at the front end portion 22b of the steering shaft 22 to transmit the rotation to a steering gear box provided at the lower front portion of the vehicle body.

Reference numerals 31 and 32 are a horn pad and a lower cover, which are attached so as to cover the spoke portion 12 of the steering wheel from the vehicle rear side and the vehicle front side, respectively. The horn pad 31 includes a spoke portion 12 and a boss portion 1.
1 is covered, and a horn button is provided integrally or separately. Note that reference numerals 33, 34, and 35 respectively denote a steering upper cover, a steering lower cover, and a steering joint cover formed of synthetic resin or the like,
It covers the mechanical parts such as the steering column 2.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lower cover 32 taken along arrow A in FIG. The lower cover 32 has a bowl shape as a whole and is integrally molded with a resin such as polypropylene. The lower cover 32 includes a flat plate-shaped base portion 36 provided on the front side of the vehicle, and a skirt portion 37 integrally extending from an outer edge of the base portion 36. A circular hole 38 through which the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel is inserted is provided at the center of the base portion 36, and a flange 39 is integrally provided at the peripheral edge thereof. A cover mounting boss 40 is provided on the base portion 36 adjacent to the periphery of the circular hole 38. As shown in FIG. 1, the cover mounting boss 40 projects toward the rear of the vehicle (toward the spoke portion 12), and a screw 41 is inserted through a hole in the center of the cover mounting boss 40 to be in the vicinity of the boss portion 11 of the steering wheel. It is screwed to a female screw portion 14 provided near the base of the portion 12. Further, the skirt portion 37 of the lower cover 32 is provided with three cutout portions 42 facing the three spoke portions 12.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. In FIG. 3, the horn pad 31 and the lower cover 32 are attached to the steering wheel body, and the horn switch and the like mounted inside are omitted. The boss portion 11 and the spoke portion 12 of the steering wheel are made of metal and are fixed to each other by welding. The wheel portion 13 is formed by encapsulating a metallic core material 15 welded to the outer ends of the spoke portions 12 with a resin outer skin portion 43 such as urethane foam. Further, the outer skin portion 43 integrally encloses the vehicle body rear surface 12 a of the spoke portion 12 up to a portion exposed to the outside of the horn pad 31. Further, the outer skin portion 43 is formed with an extended portion 43a so as to integrally enclose the vehicle body front surface 12b of the spoke portion 12 up to the vicinity of the cover mounting boss 40 of the lower cover 32. Further, the extending portion 43 a has a notch portion 42 so that the outer surface 43 b thereof is continuous with the outer surface shape of the lower cover 32.
The appearance is improved by forming a fitting portion facing the. In the above description, among the three spokes, the spoke at the lower center has been described, but the other spokes have the same structure, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state when an impact force is applied to the wheel portion 13 in the same cross section as in FIG. When an impact force is applied to the wheel portion 13, the spoke portion 12 bends forward of the vehicle and the wheel portion 13 moves forward of the vehicle with respect to the boss portion 11. In the present invention, since the lower cover 32 is provided with the cutout portion facing the spoke portion 12, even if the spoke portion 12 bends forward of the vehicle, the spoke portion 12 passes through the cutout portion 42 and both of them interfere with each other. There is no. Even if the deformation causes interference, since the notch 42 is provided, the rigidity of the lower cover itself is reduced, and the deformation of the spoke portion (steering wheel) is less affected.

In the above embodiments, the case where the number of spokes is three has been described, but the present invention can be applied to a steering wheel having one or more spokes. Further, the fitting portion facing the cutout portion is formed as an extension portion integrally with the outer cover portion that covers the wheel portion to improve the external appearance, but the weight can be reduced by using a hollow member or the like as a separate body.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. Steering wheel impact mitigation capability (capacity)
In order to ideally set in the development stage, there is no need to consider the rigidity of the lower cover and the influence on the steering wheel body, and it is possible to reduce the enormous amount of time and labor required for the development of design and experiments. You can If the lower cover is attached to the spoke portion near the boss portion, even if the spoke portion and the lower cover should interfere with each other, the notch portion is likely to bend and its influence can be reduced. The appearance can be improved by providing the spoke portion with a fitting portion that faces the cutout portion. Further, if the fitting portion is integrated with the outer skin portion of the wheel portion, the appearance can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a vehicle steering system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lower cover taken along the arrow A in FIG.

3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a conventional steering wheel.

6 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a problem in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Steering Wheel 11 Boss 12 Spoke 13 Wheel 22 Steering Shaft 32 Lower Cover 42 Notch

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A boss portion of a steering wheel is fixed to a rear end portion of a steering shaft rotatably attached to a vehicle, and a spoke portion is extended from the boss portion toward an outer periphery. In a vehicle steering wheel in which a circular wheel portion centering on the boss portion is provided at the outer end, and a lower cover is additionally provided in front of the spoke portion in the vehicle, a cutout portion facing the spoke portion is provided on the lower cover. A steering wheel for a vehicle, which is characterized in that 2. The vehicle steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the lower cover is attached to a spoke portion near the boss portion. 3. The vehicle steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the spoke portion is provided with a fitting portion facing the cutout portion. 4. The vehicle steering wheel according to claim 3, wherein the wheel portion is covered with an outer skin portion, and the outer skin portion is extended to the spoke portion to form a fitting portion.