JPH1167019A - Steering wheel component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate assembling work to a main shaft so as to enhance assembling accuracy by integrally fixing a shaft to a core member of a steering wheel, fixing a column switch to the shaft, extending a free end through the column switch and fixing it to the tip of the main shaft on a chassis side. SOLUTION: A free end extending through a column switch 66 of a shaft 56 is constituted as a fastening structural portion to be fixed at the tip of a main shaft 76. A serration hole 78 is bored at a position farther by a predetermined distance inside a cylindrical hole on the free end side of the shaft 56. A steering position sensor is integrally assembled to the shaft 56, thereby reducing an assembling error so as to enhance detection accuracy of the sensor. The column switch 66 is rotatably supported directly by the shaft 56, thus reducing misalignment with respect to the rotating axis of the shaft 56 in the column switch 66.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel component in which related parts are integrally assembled on a shaft integrally provided on a steering wheel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional vehicle steering system, a turn signal switch assembly 12 as a column switch is mounted on a main shaft 10 as shown in FIG.
Is mounted in a state where the distal end of the main shaft 10 is inserted into the insertion hole of the rotating cylinder shaft of the clock spring.
The turn signal switch assembly 12 has a steering position sensor 16 as a rotation angle sensor as shown in FIG. 5 attached to one end of the rotary cylinder shaft.

[0003] The steering position sensor 16 is provided with a rotor section 18 for rotating integrally with the main shaft 10. The rotor portion 18 is provided with two small projecting piece-shaped engaging projections 20. Also, the rotation signal shaft assembly 14 mounted on the clock spring of the turn signal switch assembly 12 has two engagement protrusions 20 fitted to one end of the cylinder.
A plurality of engagement recesses 22 are formed.

[0004] With the steering position sensor 16 mounted on the turn signal switch assembly 12, each engaging projection 20 of the rotor section 18 is fitted into each engaging recess 22 and assembled. The steering position sensor 16 includes a rotor section 18 that rotates together with a rotary cylinder shaft 14 attached to a steering wheel 26 with respect to a stator section 24 fixed to the vehicle body together with the turn signal switch assembly 12.
By detecting the rotation angle of the main shaft 1
The configuration is such that a steering rotation angle position of 0 can be detected.

[0005] As described above, the main shaft 10 to which the turn signal switch assembly 12 is assembled is provided.
A steering wheel 26 is attached to a portion extending from the rotary cylinder shaft 14 to the outside. Therefore, the tapered shaft portion of the main shaft 10 is fitted into a part of the serration hole 28 formed in the boss portion 26A of the steering wheel 26, and the serration hole 28
The serration portion 10A of the main shaft 10 is serration-coupled to the serration portion of
The nut 32 is fitted into the screw groove 30 formed in the free end of the rotary cylinder shaft 14 shown in FIG. 4, and the three fitting holes 26B formed in the boss 26A shown in FIG. By fitting the three projections 14A projecting from the other end, the steering wheel 26, the main shaft 10,
The rotating cylinder shaft 14 and the rotor portion 18 are fastened so as to rotate integrally.

Next, a steering wheel pad assembly 36 integrally formed with an airbag device 34 is attached to the steering wheel 26 attached to the main shaft 10, and the assembly of the steering device is completed.

[0007]

In the conventional steering apparatus configured to be assembled as described above, the steering position sensor 1 is sequentially attached to the main shaft 10 mounted on the vehicle in a narrow vehicle interior.
6, the turn signal switch assembly 12, the steering wheel 26, and the nut 32 must be assembled, and further, the steering wheel pad assembly 36 must be assembled to the steering wheel 26 assembled to the main shaft 10. There was a problem that workability was poor.

Further, in order to absorb an assembling error when assembling the turn signal switch assembly 12 to the main shaft 10 and a dimensional error in manufacturing, three fitting holes 26 B of the steering wheel 26 and three of the rotary cylinder shaft 14 are used. Protrusions 14A, and each engagement recess 22 of the rotary cylinder shaft 14
Therefore, it is difficult to improve the detection accuracy of the steering position sensor 16 because it is necessary to set a play between each of the engaging projections 20 of the rotor portion 18 and the engaging projections 20.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to newly provide a steering wheel component that can be easily attached to a main shaft and that can improve assembly accuracy.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steering wheel component comprising: a shaft integrally attached to a core of a steering wheel;
It has a column switch assembled to the shaft, a free end portion extending through the column switch on the shaft, and a fastening structure for fixing a tip end of the main shaft on the vehicle body side. And

With the above construction, a steering wheel component in which components such as a shaft and a column switch are integrated can be handled as a single component, and the steering wheel component is fastened to the vehicle body by a fastening structure of the shaft portion. By doing so, the work of mounting the entire steering wheel component on the vehicle body side can be performed, so that the work efficiency can be improved as compared with the case where each part such as a column switch is mounted on the vehicle body side.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steering wheel component including a shaft integrally mounted on a core material of a steering wheel, a column switch mounted on the shaft, and a column switch on the shaft. A fastening structure for fixing the extended free end portion and the tip of the main shaft on the vehicle body side;
And a steering position sensor having a rotating member integrally attached to the shaft integrated with the core material.

With the above-described structure, in addition to the functions and effects according to the first aspect, the mounting accuracy of the shaft and the rotating member integrally mounted thereon is improved, and the steering position sensor detects the shaft. Accuracy can be improved.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the steering wheel component of the present invention is shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, in the steering wheel component 51, a boss portion 54 is integrally formed with a wheel rim portion 50, which is a core material of the annular portion, via four spokes 52 to form a steering wheel core material. ing. As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG.
A shaft 56 is integrally fixed to 4. The shaft 56 is made of metal and formed in a cylindrical shape, and a small protrusion 57 for retaining and preventing rotation is integrally formed on the outer periphery of the base end portion. The shaft 56 has a base end including the small protrusion 57 inserted into the boss 54 and is integrally formed with the other wheel rims 50 and spokes 52 by, for example, an aluminum die casting method.

As shown in FIG. 2, an airbag device 60 and a horn device (not shown) are mounted inside the lower cover 58 of the boss portion 54 of the steering wheel component 51 on the wheel rim portion 50 side.

An annular clock spring rotating portion 62 is mounted on an outer peripheral portion of the boss portion 54 including the base end portion of the shaft 56. The clock spring rotating portion 62 is for electrically connecting the airbag device 60 that rotates with the steering and the horn device to various devices fixed to the vehicle body, respectively.
The portion on the rotation side is formed integrally with the lower cover 58, and the portion of the housing 64 on the fixed side is fixed to a column switch 66 fixedly mounted on the vehicle body side.

The column switch 66 is provided with a direction indicator,
A light switch, a wiper switch, etc. are provided,
A shaft hole 66A is formed at the center of the shaft hole. The column switch 66 is mounted so that the shaft 56 is passed through a shaft hole 66A and the shaft 56 is supported by a bearing (not shown) so that the entirety of the column switch 66 constitutes the integrated steering wheel component 51. The column switch 6 on the shaft 56
6, a groove 56A, which is an annular shallow groove, is formed in the vicinity of the bottom surface opposite to the boss portion 54, and a C-ring 59 is fitted into the groove 56A to thereby form the shaft 56. The column switches 66 are engaged so that they do not fall off and can be relatively rotated.

As shown in FIG. 2, a small pillar-shaped fixing pin 67 is provided at a predetermined position on the bottom surface of the column switch 66 opposite to the boss portion 54. Further, a predetermined position of a steering support 69 provided on an instrument panel reinforcement (not shown) corresponding to the fixing pin 67 is inserted for fixing the fixing pin 67 to instruct the column switch 66 not to rotate. A support hole 71 is provided.

A steering position sensor 68, which is a rotation angle sensor, is mounted between the column switch 66 and the clock spring rotating section 62.

This steering position sensor 68
Is composed of a rotating disk 70 as a rotating member and a detection sensor 72. The rotating disk 70 has a ring plate shape, and is integrated so that a central hole portion thereof is implanted in the ring member 74. The ring member 74 passes through the shaft 56 in the hollow hole, is relatively positioned and fixed, and is configured to rotate coaxially with the rotation axis of the shaft 56. The rotating disk 70 is formed by forming narrow groove-shaped through holes for optical detection at equal intervals at an annular position centered on the rotation axis.

A detection sensor 72 for optically detecting a plurality of through-holes annularly arranged on the rotating disk 70 has a light-emitting element 72A which is mounted on the fixed-side housing 64 of the clock-spring rotating portion 62. It is arranged at a position corresponding to a plurality of through holes. At the same time, a light receiving element 72B is arranged at a position facing the light emitting element 72A and the plurality of through holes of the rotating disk 70. Then, the light emission of the light emitting element 72A is detected by the light receiving element 72B through each through hole, so that the rotating disk 7
From the zero origin position, the detection sensor 72 detects in which rotational direction the number of through holes has passed, and detects the rotation angle of the shaft 56 and the (steering angle of the steering device). I have.

In the steering position sensor 68 constructed and arranged as described above, since the rotating disk 70 directly and integrally fixes the ring member 74 to the shaft 56 by so-called direct attachment, the so-called assembling play of this portion is reduced. Accuracy can be improved to an angle plus or minus 30 minutes or less.

The steering position sensor 68 can be configured as a sensor using various other detection methods.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shaft 5
The free end portion extending through the column switch 66 in FIG. 6 is configured as a fastening structure that constitutes fastening means for fixing to the distal end portion of the main shaft 76. For this reason, a serration hole 78 is formed in the cylindrical hole on the free end side of the shaft 56 at a position a predetermined distance from the open end. Further, a hole is formed near the opening end of the serration hole 78 of the shaft 56 so as to penetrate the shaft 56 in the diameter direction, and one of the holes is formed in a through hole 82 through which a fixing screw 80 passes. The other side is formed in a threaded screw hole 84.

The tip of the main shaft 76 is formed on a serration shaft 86.
Near the end opposite to the tip of the main shaft 76 of
An insertion hole 8 that penetrates the main shaft 76 in the diameter direction.
8 are drilled. In addition, the shaft 56 is a shaft rod,
The main shaft 76 may be formed in a cylindrical shape, and the fastening structure between the shaft 56 and the main shaft 76 may be constituted by various fastening means other than those described above. Further, a clock spring rotating part 62, a column switch 66, and a steering position sensor 68
Various components other than the above may be mounted.

Next, the steering wheel component 51 of the present embodiment, which can be handled as an integral part as described above, is attached to the main shaft 76 of the vehicle body.
The case of attaching to a part will be described.

The steering wheel component 51 includes a steering wheel and a shaft 56 integrally formed. The steering wheel component 51 includes main components related to steering such as an airbag device 60, a horn device, a clock spring rotating portion 62, a steering position sensor 68, and a column switch 66. Since the parts are already assembled together,
The serration hole 78 at the free end of the shaft 56 is aligned with the serration shaft 86 of the main shaft 76 and serrated and connected to rotate integrally. In this connection state, the through hole 82 of the shaft 56,
Since the screw hole 84 and the screw hole 84 are in communication with the insertion hole 88 of the main shaft 76, the screw 80 is passed through the through hole 82 and the insertion hole 88 from the tip thereof, and the screw hole 84
Into the main shaft 76 and the shaft 56 so as not to come off.

At the time of this operation, the column switch 6
Reference numeral 6 denotes a fixing portion of the vehicle body, which is fixed to an insertion support hole 71 of a steering support 69 provided in an instrument panel reinforcement (not shown) by inserting a fixing pin 67 so as not to rotate with respect to the vehicle body. It is attached.

In the steering wheel component 51, simple operations such as the above-mentioned operation of fastening the shaft 56 and operation of fixing the column switch 66 may be performed in the vehicle interior. Then, a fine assembling operation for attaching the airbag device 60 and the horn device to the steering wheel portion, and a clock pulling rotating portion 62, a steering position sensor 68, and a column are provided on a shaft 56 portion integrally formed with the steering wheel. The work requiring high precision for positioning and assembling the switch 66 and the like can be performed in a wide area of the assembling place of the steering wheel component 51 in an easy-to-work environment. Can be improved.

Further, since the steering position sensor 68 is integrally attached to the shaft 56, the assembly error can be reduced and the detection accuracy of the sensor can be improved. Further, since the column switch 66 is mounted on the shaft 56 so as to directly support the rotation, the misalignment of the column switch 66 with respect to the rotation axis of the shaft 56 can be reduced.

In addition, a part of the clock spring rotating part 62 and a part of the column switch 66 are shared, and a steering position sensor 68 is formed therebetween.
By simplifying the assembly structure as a whole and miniaturizing the whole, the space occupied by the steering wheel component 51 in the entire steering device is reduced. For example, in the case of the reset type handle, the wheel rim 5
To increase the amount of retraction when a load is applied to zero,
Alternatively, the degree of freedom in the design of the steering device can be improved.

In addition, since the steering wheel component 51 can be handled as one independent part, the handling operation can be facilitated as compared with separately transporting and storing various devices assembled thereto. .

[0033]

According to the steering wheel component of the present invention, most of the work of assembling the steering device in the vehicle body compartment can be performed by attaching the shaft to the main shaft on the vehicle body side, so that the working efficiency can be improved.
Moreover, since various devices are directly attached to the shaft,
There is an effect that the assembling accuracy can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional plan view showing a steering wheel component according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a steering wheel component according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a conventional steering device.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a coupling portion between a main shaft and a steering position sensor in a conventional steering device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 51 Steering wheel component 56 Shaft 62 Clock spring rotating part 66 Column switch 68 Steering position sensor 70 Rotating disk 76 Main shaft 78 Serration hole (fastening structure) 80 Screw 82 Through hole (fastening structure) 86 Serration shaft

Claims (2)

[Claims] A shaft integrally attached to a core of a steering wheel; a column switch assembled to the shaft; a free end portion of the shaft extending through the column switch; A steering wheel component, comprising: a fastening structure for fixing an end of a main shaft on a vehicle body side. 2. A shaft integrally attached to a core material of a steering wheel; a column switch assembled to the shaft; a free end portion of the shaft extending through the column switch; A fastening structure for fixing the tip of the main shaft on the vehicle body side; and a steering position sensor having a rotating member integrally attached to the shaft integrated with the core material. Features steering wheel components.