JPH082425A - Vehicular steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attempt facilitation and omission of wiring, facilitation of installation, improvement of work efficiency and durability of the horn switch mechanism of a steering wheel provided with an energy absorbing body. CONSTITUTION:The boss part 5 of a conductive member is fixed on the upper end of a shaft 4. The energy absorbing body 12 of the conductive member deformed by receiving any shock is provided above the boss part 5. The switch installation plate 19 of a horn cover 13 is provided on the upper surface of the energy absorbing body 12. A sheet spring 21 having a movable contact point 20 and a horn plate 25 having a fixed contact point are installed on the switch installation plate 19. A terminal part 27 formed on the base part of the sheet spring 21 is pushed out downward from the window part 28 of the switch installation plate 19 and brought in elastic contact with the energy absorbing body 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a boss portion formed of a conductive member is fixed to an upper end of a shaft provided on a vehicle body side, and an energy absorber which is deformed when an impact is applied is provided above the boss portion. A horn cover is provided on the switch, and a switch mounting plate of the horn cover, which comes into contact with the upper surface of the energy absorber, has a movable contact provided at the tip of a leaf spring for constantly moving the upper horn cover of the horn cover and the upper horn. A vehicle steering wheel provided with a horn plate having a fixed contact with which the movable contact that moves downward when the cover moves downward is known.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned known device, the terminal wired near the boss and the leaf spring are wired by a cord, but since the energy absorber exists between the boss and the leaf spring. However, there is a problem that the installation is troublesome. Further, since the wiring is provided in the energy absorber, there is a problem that the cord may be broken.

[0004]

An object of the present invention is to facilitate and omit wiring of a horn switch mechanism of a steering wheel provided with an energy absorber, facilitate installation, improve work efficiency, and improve durability.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a boss portion 5 formed by a conducting member is formed on the upper end of a shaft 4 provided on the vehicle body side.
Is provided, and an energy absorber 12 that deforms when an impact is applied is provided above the boss portion 5.
The horn cover 13 is provided above the horn cover 13, and the switch mounting plate 19 of the horn cover 13 that contacts the upper surface of the energy absorber 12 has a tip end of a leaf spring 21 that constantly moves the upper horn cover 54 of the horn cover 13. The movable contact 20 provided and a horn plate 25 having a fixed contact 24 with which the movable contact 20 moved downward by the downward movement of the upper horn cover 54 are provided, and the leaf spring 21 is provided at the base of the leaf spring 21. The formed terminal portion 27 is projected downward from the window portion 28 formed in the switch mounting plate 19 and elastically contacted with the energy absorber 12.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a vehicle steering wheel formed of a conductive member.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Reference numeral 1 is a steering wheel used for a vehicle or the like. In the steering wheel 1, a boss portion 5 is fitted and fixed to an upper end of a main shaft 4 provided on the vehicle body side, a boss plate 6 is fixed to the boss portion 5, and a spoke core metal is attached to the boss portion 5 and the boss plate 6. 7 base is fixed, spoke core metal 7
A circular wheel core metal 8 is fixed to the tip of the wheel core, and a part of the spoke core metal 7 and the outer peripheral surface of the wheel core metal 8 are covered with a synthetic resin 9 to form a circular wheel portion 10 and a spoke portion 11. An energy absorber 12 formed of a thin metal plate material is provided above the boss plate 6, and the horn cover 1 is provided above the energy absorber 12.
3 is provided and configured.

Therefore, the horn cover 13 has a horn switch mechanism 14 incorporated therein.
Is attached to the energy absorber 12. Reference numeral 16 denotes a lower horn cover of the horn cover 13, which is made of a hard synthetic resin and has a switch mechanism mounting recess 17 in the center thereof. The bottom of the switch mechanism mounting recess 17 serves as a switch mounting plate 19 on which the horn switch mechanism 14 is provided. The horn switch mechanism 14 includes front and rear leaf springs 21 having movable contacts 20 formed at their ends (the front and rear directions are based on the steering wheel 1 in the straight traveling direction, and the same applies hereinafter) and both left and right ends. Left and right leaf springs 23 forming the movable contact 22, the movable contact 20 and the movable contact 2
And a horn plate 25 having a fixed contact 24 with which one of the two contacts. The front and rear leaf springs 21 and the left and right leaf springs 23 are fixed to the switch mounting plate 19 with screws 26 by overlapping the base side of the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the intermediate portion of the left and right leaf springs 23. Then, the screw 2 of the leaf spring 21
The rear end of the portion to which 6 is attached is bent downward to form the terminal portion 27. The terminal portion 27 is the switch mounting plate 1
It is made to project downward from the window part 28 formed in 9. Therefore, when the horn cover 13 is attached to the energy absorber 12, the terminal portion 27 makes elastic contact with the upper surface of the energy absorber 12. This is the gist of the present invention. Reference numeral 29 is a guide wall for positioning which facilitates attachment of the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the left and right leaf springs 23.

Therefore, the horn plate 25 is formed in the shape of an inverted triangular plate, the fixed contacts 24 are arranged at the respective apexes of the triangle of the horn plate 25, and the switch mounting plate 19 and the horn plate 25 are respectively described later. The engaging hole and the engaging protrusion are formed to fix without using screws. The switch mounting plate 19 has a holding projection 33 having a gap 32 into which the side edge 31 of the horn plate 25 can fit, and an engaging hole 3 formed in the horn plate 25.
4 is formed with an engaging projection 35, and an engaging claw 36 that engages with the front side surface of the horn plate 25 is formed at the tip of the engaging projection 35. Reference numeral 37 denotes a guide wall having the pressing projection 33 formed therein, which is arranged in an inverted C shape (when the horn plate 25 is formed in a quadrangular shape, the upward U-shaped 4 is formed).
Provide it in a place. ).

On the front side of the horn plate 25, a downward bending portion 38 that bends downward is formed, and an upper portion of the downward bending portion 38 is formed as a narrow portion 39, and a portion that protrudes laterally following the narrow portion 39 is formed. The stopper 40 is formed, and subsequently to the engaging portion 40, a coupler engaging portion 43 for inserting and fixing the code coupler 42 provided at the tip of the cord 41 is formed. The other end of the cord 41 is connected to a protruding portion of a ring member 46 provided in an insulating state below the boss portion 5, the ring member 46 is connected to a power source (plus side), and the terminals of the front and rear leaf springs 21 are connected. By bringing the portion 27 into contact with the upper surface of the energy absorber 12, the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the left and right leaf springs 23 are grounded via the energy absorber 12 and the boss plate 6.

On the other hand, the switch mounting plate 19 is formed with an insertion hole 44 into which the locking portion 40 can be inserted and an engagement hole 45 communicating with the insertion hole 44. Then, the locking portion 40 of the downward bent portion 38 of the horn plate 25 is attached to the switch mounting plate 1
9 is positioned above the insertion hole 44, the engaging projection 35 of the switch mounting plate 19 is engaged with the engaging hole 34 of the horn plate 25.
When the locking portion 40 is inserted into the insertion hole 44 from above, the engaging projection 3 of the switch mounting plate 19 is positioned.
5 is fitted in the engaging hole 34 of the horn plate 25, and when it is further displaced in this state, the engaging protrusion 35 of the switch mounting plate 19
Engaging claw 36 engages with the front side surface of the horn plate 25, and the engaging portion 40 of the downward bent portion 38 of the horn plate 25.
Engages with the lower surface of the switch mounting plate 19, and the horn plate 2
The side edge 31 of No. 5 is fitted below the pressing projection 33, and the horn plate 25 is attached to the switch attachment plate 19.

Then, the intermediate vertical moving member 49 is fitted into the switch mechanism mounting recess 17 of the horn cover 13.
On the intermediate up-and-down moving member 49, a pressing protrusion 50 protruding downward is arranged corresponding to the movable contact 20 of the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the movable contact 22 of the left and right leaf springs 23, and the pressing protrusion 50 is arranged on the movable contact 20 and the movable contact 22. Place it in this state,
The engaging legs 52 formed on the intermediate vertical moving member 49 are fitted and attached to the engaging holes 53 formed on the switch mounting plate 19.
Therefore, since the intermediate vertical moving member 49 is moved upward by the elastic force of the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the left and right leaf springs 23, when either portion is pressed, either the movable contact 20 or the movable contact 22 is fixed. To close the horn circuit.

The upper surfaces of the intermediate vertical moving member 49 and the lower horn cover 16 are covered with the upper horn cover 54 to form the horn cover 13, and the lower horn cover 16 has a large diameter portion at a predetermined position. The engagement protrusion 55 is provided,
The cover engagement protrusion 55 is engaged with and attached to the engagement hole 56 formed in the energy absorber 12.

[0013]

[Operation] Next, the operation will be described. The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and the horn switch mechanism 14 includes the front and rear leaf springs 21 having the movable contact 20 and the left and right leaf springs 23 having the movable contact 22, and the horn plate 25 with which the movable contacts 20 and 22 come into contact. The horn plate 25 of the horn switch mechanism 14 is configured without using screws.
Since it is mounted on 9, the mounting process is reduced and the mounting work is extremely simple.

That is, the downward bent portion 3 of the horn plate 25
When the locking portion 40 of No. 8 is inserted into the insertion hole 44 of the switch mounting plate 19, the engaging projection 35 of the switch mounting plate 19 is fitted into the engaging hole 34 of the horn plate 25, and in this state, the engaging projection 35 is displaced rearward. The engaging portion 40 of the downward bent portion 38 of the horn plate 25 engages with the lower surface of the switch mounting plate 19, and the engaging claw 36 of the engaging protrusion 35 of the switch mounting plate 19 engages with the front side surface of the horn plate 25. , Side edge 3 of horn plate 25
1 contacts the guide wall 37 and is fitted below the pressing protrusion 33, and the horn plate 25 is attached to the switch mounting plate 19
Mounted on. Therefore, the horn plate 25 is released from troublesome installation work such as screwing, and the installation work is simplified and speeded up.

In this case, the side edge 31 of the horn plate 25
Engages with the lower surface of the pressing protrusion 33, and the front side of the horn plate 25 engages with the lower surface of the engaging protrusion 35.
Since the engaging portion 40 formed on the downward bent portion 38 of the No. 5 engages with the lower surface of the switch mounting plate 19, the horn plate 25 is firmly fixed in the up-down direction, and vertical play is not generated. Further, the side edge 31 of the horn plate 25 is provided with the pressing projection 3
Since the engaging claw 36 at the tip of the engaging projection 35 engages with the front side surface of the horn plate 25, the horn plate 25 is fixed in the front-rear direction as well.
Moreover, since the guide wall 37 is arranged in an inverted C shape,
It is also fixed in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the horn plate 25 is easily and reliably fixed to the lower horn cover 16.

Next, the base portions of the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the intermediate portions of the left and right leaf springs 23 are superposed between the guide walls 29 arranged in a cross shape on the upper surface of the switch mounting plate 19, and the superposed portions are screwed with the screw 2.
It is fixed to the switch mounting plate 19 by 6. In the switch mechanism mounting recess 17 of the lower horn cover 16 in this state, an intermediate up-and-down moving member 49 having pressing protrusions 50 arranged corresponding to the movable contacts 20 of the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the movable contacts 22 of the left and right leaf springs 23 is provided. When fitted in the switch mechanism mounting recess 17, each pressing protrusion 50 is placed on the movable contact 20 and the movable contact 22, and in this state, the intermediate vertical moving member 49.
When the upper horn cover 54 is placed over the above, the assembly of the horn cover 13 is completed.

However, a part of the spoke core metal 7 and the outer peripheral surface of the wheel core metal 8 are covered with the synthetic resin 9 so that a large number of circular wheel portions 10 and spoke portions 11 are formed in advance and preassembled. The code coupler 42 is inserted and fixed to the coupler locking portion 43 of the horn cover 13, and in this state, the cover engagement protrusion 55 of the lower horn cover 16 of the horn cover 13 is formed in the energy absorber 12 as the engagement hole 5.
6 is engaged, the mounting of the horn cover 13 is completed. Therefore, the mounting of the horn cover 13 is very easy and easy. In this case, in the downward bent portion 38 of the horn plate 25, the narrow portion 39 is located in the insertion hole 44 and the locking portion 4 is provided.
Since 0 is located below the switch mounting plate 19, as described above, when connecting the code coupler 42 to the coupler locking portion 43 of the downward bending portion 38, the downward bending portion 38 is fixed to the switch mounting plate 19. Even if you push it strongly, the locking part 40
Only contacts the lower surface of the switch mounting plate 19 to prevent the downward bent portion 38 from being deformed. Therefore, the downward bent portion 3
By preventing the deformation of 8, the connection failure between the coupler locking portion 43 and the code coupler 42 is prevented, and the code coupler 42 is also prevented from falling off.

Thus, the front and rear leaf springs 21 and the left and right leaf springs 23 fix the base side of the leaf spring 21 and the intermediate portion of the left and right leaf springs 23 to the switch mounting plate 19 with screws 26. The rear end is bent downward to form a terminal portion 27, and the terminal portion 27 is the switch mounting plate 19
When the horn cover 13 is attached to the energy absorber 12 by projecting downward from the window portion 28 formed in the terminal portion 27,
Elastically abuts on the upper surface of the energy absorber 12, it is not necessary to connect a cord to the leaf spring 21, and the number of parts can be reduced.

That is, the horn switch mechanism 14 is attached to the boss portion 5.
When mounting, the boss portion 5 is grounded, the boss portion 5 is provided with a fixed contact, the movable contact of the leaf spring is set to the positive side, and the cord from the power supply is connected to the movable contact. , Horn switch 13 on horn cover 13
However, since the terminal portion 27 is formed in the leaf spring 21 to elastically contact the energy absorber 12, the wiring is unnecessary and the horn plate 25 is provided. Wiring the cord on the plus side is all that is required, and the installation process can be reduced.

The horn cover 13 is composed of a lower horn cover 16, an intermediate vertical moving member 49 and an upper horn cover 54, and the intermediate vertical moving member 49 moves up and down with respect to the lower horn cover 16. Since the upper horn cover 54 is made of soft synthetic resin, not only can the horn switch mechanism 14 be operated by pressing any portion above the intermediate vertical moving member 49, but also the lower horn cover 16 can be operated. Does not move up and down, the terminal portion 27 of the leaf spring 21 and the contact portion of the energy absorber 12 and the code coupler 42 of the cord 41 connected to the horn plate 25 do not move up and down, and the connection and contact are good. Therefore, the durability can be improved and the occurrence of failure can be extremely reduced.

[0021]

According to the present invention, the boss portion 5 formed by the conductive member is fixed to the upper end of the shaft 4 provided on the vehicle body side, and the boss portion 5 is fixed.
Energy absorber 12 that deforms when impacted above
And the horn cover 13 is provided above the energy absorber 12, and the upper horn cover 54 of the horn cover 13 is constantly mounted on the switch mounting plate 19 of the horn cover 13 that contacts the upper surface of the energy absorber 12. The movable contact 20 provided at the tip of the leaf spring 21 to be moved, and the movable contact 2 moved downward by the downward movement of the upper horn cover 54.
Horn plate 25 having fixed contact 24 with which 0 contacts
And the leaf spring 21 has a terminal portion 27 formed on the base portion of the leaf spring 21 projecting downward from a window portion 28 formed on the switch mounting plate 19 to elastically contact the energy absorber 12. Since the absorber 12 is a vehicle steering wheel formed of a conducting member, the wiring for attaching the horn cover 13 is formed of the conducting member even if the vehicle steering wheel is provided with the energy absorber 12. Energy absorber 1
Since only the terminal portion 27 of the leaf spring 21 is elastically contacted with the second member, it is easy to pull out the cord, and since the cord is not required, the cord wiring can be omitted, and there is no fear of disconnection, and the horn switch mechanism is provided. The working efficiency of the wiring of 14 is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a steering wheel.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view before mounting the horn cover.

FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

5 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an engagement protrusion.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the engagement protrusion in an engaged state.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a pressing protrusion.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the pressing protrusion is engaged.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the pressing protrusion is engaged.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the lower bent portion in an engaged state.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Steering wheel, 5 ... Boss part, 6 ... Boss plate, 7 ... Spoke core metal, 8 ... Wheel core metal, 9 ... Synthetic resin, 10 ... Wheel part, 11 ... Spoke part, 12 ... Energy absorber, 13 ... Horn cover, 14 ... Horn switch mechanism, 16 ... Lower horn cover, 17 ... Switch mechanism mounting recess, 19 ... Switch mounting plate, 20 ... Movable contact, 21 ... Leaf spring, 22 ... Movable contact, 23 ... Left and right leaf spring, 24 ... Fixed contact, 25 ... Horn plate, 26 ... Screw, 27 ... Terminal part, 28 ... Window part, 29 ... Guide wall, 31
... side edge, 32 ... gap, 33 ... presser projection, 34 ... engagement hole,
35 ... Engaging projections, 36 ... Engaging claws, 37 ... Guide walls, 38
... downward bending part, 39 ... narrow part, 40 ... locking part, 41 ... cord, 42 ... code coupler, 43 ... coupler locking part,
44 ... Insertion hole, 45 ... Engagement hole, 46 ... Ring member, 49
... intermediate vertical moving member, 50 ... pressing protrusion, 52 ... engaging leg, 5
3 ... Engagement hole, 54 ... Upper side horn cover, 55 ... Cover engagement protrusion, 56 ... Engagement hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A boss portion 5 formed of a conductive member is fixed to the upper end of a shaft 4 provided on the vehicle body side, and an energy absorber 12 is provided above the boss portion 5 and is deformed when an impact is applied. A horn cover 13 is provided above the body 12.
The switch mounting plate 19 of the horn cover 13 that contacts the upper surface of the energy absorber 12 is provided with a movable contact 20 provided at the tip of a leaf spring 21 that constantly moves the upper horn cover 54 of the horn cover 13. , A horn plate 25 having a fixed contact 24 with which the movable contact 20 that is moved downward by the downward movement of the upper horn cover 54 is provided, and the leaf spring 21 has a terminal portion 27 formed at the base of the leaf spring 21. Window portion 2 formed on the switch mounting plate 19
8 is a vehicle steering wheel in which the energy absorber 12 is elastically brought into contact with the energy absorber 12 and is made of a conductive member.