JP3526468B2 - Steering column device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering column device. 2. Description of the Related Art A steering column device is provided with a telescopic bracket which is moved in an axial direction by a manual operation or an electric motor so that an occupant of an automobile can secure an optimal posture for himself and perform safe driving. The position of the steering wheel can be moved back and forth in parallel with the column axis (telescopic adjustment) and can be tilted up and down (tilt adjustment) crossing the column axis (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 61-61).
No. 33366). In order to adjust the telescopic and tilt, a telescopic bracket is inserted into the upper end of the jacket tube so as to be movable in the axial direction. The tube is fixed to the vehicle body with the upper clamp. Further, a shaft on which a steering wheel is mounted is connected to the upper end of the telescopic bracket via a hinge shaft so as to be tiltable in the vertical direction. [0004] However, according to the steering column device as described above, since the fixing point of the upper clamp to the vehicle body and the fixing point of the upper clamp and the jacket tube are considerably far apart, Since the bracket is supported by the upper clamp in a cantilever manner, there is a disadvantage that the support rigidity is not high. Therefore, the present invention has been made to improve the support rigidity of a telescopic bracket in a steering column device of the type described above. [0006] A steering column device according to the present invention allows an upper clamp to be detached from a vehicle body.
The telescopic bracket can be moved axially on the upper end of the jacket tube fixed to the upper clamp
And a telescopic bracket having a drive mechanism for moving the telescopic bracket forward and backward from the jacket tube in the steering column apparatus. wherein by inserting the bolt into the upper clamp was fitted the bolt in the slot, and wherein the by pass through the bolt to the jacket tube and the nut fastened on the inside. By providing an elongated hole in the telescopic bracket immediately below the vehicle body fixing point of the upper clamp, the cantilever structure of the telescopic bracket is eliminated. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a telescopic bracket 2 is fitted to the upper end of the jacket tube 1 so as to be movable in the axial direction.
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper end of the telescopic bracket 2 is bifurcated into left and right sides, and a tilt bracket 4 is pivotally supported via hinge shafts 3 and 3. A sleeve 5 is connected to the tilt bracket 4, and an upper shaft 8 is rotatably supported in the sleeve 5 via bearings 6 and 7. A steering wheel (not shown) is mounted on the upper end of the upper shaft 8.
A shaft 10 is connected to a lower end of the shaft 10 via a universal joint 9. A serration 1 is provided at the lower end of the shaft 10.
A middle tube 13 is connected via a serration 12 which engages with the serration 11, and a lower tube 14 is connected to the middle tube 13 by welding or the like. A serration 15 is formed on the inner peripheral surface at the lower end of the lower tube 14, and a lower shaft 17 having a serration 16 engaged with the serration 15 formed on the outer peripheral surface at the upper end is fitted to the lower tube 14. The lower end of the lower tube 14 is rotatably supported by a jacket tube via a bearing 18. The lower shaft 17 is connected to the intermediate shaft 20 via the universal joint 19.
The lower end of the intermediate shaft 20 is connected to a steering gear box via a universal joint (not shown). Therefore, the torque due to the rotation of the steering wheel is transmitted to the steering gear box. In order to tilt the upper shaft 8 about the hinge shafts 3 and 3 at an appropriate angle, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a bracket 21 is integrally formed on the telescopic bracket 2, and a bolt is attached to the bracket 21. A gear case 23 is rotatably supported by a shaft 22 via a shaft 22 fixed at 22a, and a wheel 24 housed in the gear case 23 is provided.
A screw shaft 25 is coaxially implanted in the screw shaft 25, the screw shaft 25 is extended toward the tilt bracket 4, and a nut 26 screwed to the screw shaft 25 is bolted to a bracket portion 27 integrally formed at a lower portion of the tilt bracket 4. Is rotatably pinched and supported by the shaft 28 fixed in the above. As shown in FIG. 8, the nut 26 is covered with an elastic body 29 such as rubber. The wheel 24 meshes with the worm gear 30, and the worm gear 30 is mounted on the output shaft of the first electric motor 31. Reference numeral 32 denotes a stopper fixed to the free end of the screw shaft 25, reference numeral 33 denotes a spring seat abutting on the nut 26, and reference numeral 34 denotes a coil spring interposed between the spring seat 33 and the gear case 23.
Washers 40, 40 are provided on both sides of the wheel 24, respectively.
The needle bearings 35, 35 are disposed in contact with the washers 40, 40, and further, the washers 36, 36 are disposed in contact with the needle bearings 35, 35, and one of the washers 36 is pressed and fixed to the gear case 23. A fastening member 37 is screwed into the gear case 23 and is prevented from coming off by a nut 38. Reference numeral 39 denotes a bearing bush of the screw shaft 25. Further, in order to allow the telescopic bracket 2 to advance and retreat in the axial direction of the jacket tube 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, a bracket portion 41 is integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the jacket tube 1, and this bracket portion is formed. A gear case 43 is rotatably connected to a shaft 41 via a shaft 42 fixed by bolts 42a, and a screw shaft 45 is coaxially implanted on a wheel 44 housed in the gear case 43.
The screw shaft 45 is extended toward the telescopic bracket 2, and a nut 46 screwed to the screw shaft 45 is integrally formed at a lower portion of the telescopic bracket 2.
7 As shown in FIG. 9, a nut 46 has a U-shaped groove 48 formed in a bracket portion 47, and the nut 48 having an H-shaped cross section is fitted into the groove 48 by covering it with an elastic body 49 such as rubber. Then, the plate 50 is fixed so as to cover the groove 48 with screws 51, 51 (FIG. 7). The wheel 44 meshes with the worm gear 52, and the worm gear 52 is mounted on the output shaft of the second electric motor 53. 54 is the screw shaft 4
5 is a stopper fixed to the free end. Since the internal configuration of the gear case 43 is the same as the internal configuration of the gear case 23, the same portions will be denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted. In order to eliminate backlash (misalignment) between the jacket tube 1 and the telescopic bracket 2, FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, a coil spring 55 is disposed in the upper part of the telescopic bracket 2 in the axial direction.
A pair of tops 56, 56 abutting on both ends of the top 5 are disposed, and the tops 56, 56 are pressed against the jacket tube 1 side by a cover 57, which has an upper surface inclined and slidably contacted, and the lower surfaces of the tops 56, 56 Abuts on a plate 59 which fits into the elongated hole 58 formed in the telescopic bracket 2, and the plate 59 is slidably engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the jacket tube 1. Incidentally, the telescopic bracket 2 is supported by an upper clamp 60 for fixing to the vehicle body so as to be movable in the axial direction. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4,
On both side surfaces of the telescopic bracket 2, long holes 61 having a predetermined length of the telescopic stroke are formed.
An upper clamp 60 having an L-shaped cross section is disposed on the left and right sides, and a bolt 62 is inserted into the lower end of the upper clamp 60, and a collar 63 is loosely and rotatably fitted to the bolt 62. Then, the bolt 62 is passed through the jacket tube 1 and tightened and fixed with a nut 64 inside the jacket tube 1. Therefore, the telescopic bracket 2 is axially movable with respect to the jacket tube 1 and the upper clamp 60 to which the bolts 62 are fixed via the elongated holes 61 into which the collars 63 are fitted. The collar 63 and the nut 64 have a contact surface on the jacket tube 1 side along the cross-sectional curvature of the jacket tube 1, and the collar 63 has a concave shape.
The nut 64 has a convex shape so as to eliminate play (misalignment) between the telescopic bracket 2 and the upper clamp 60. Furthermore, this color 6
3, the bolt 62 is a stepped bolt 62a having a threaded portion at both ends, and a concave shape is formed at one end of the step along the cross-sectional curvature of the jacket tube 1 as shown in FIG. The nut 64 on the telescopic bracket 2 side and the normal nut 64a on the upper clamp 60 side may be screwed into the screw portions at both ends. To fix the upper clamp 60 to the vehicle body, a slider 65 is used which can be detached from the upper clamp 60 when the upper clamp 60 receives an impact. Is mounted.
The energy absorbing plate 66 is made of a metal plate, and the other end of the guide body 6 is fixed to the front side of the upper clamp 60.
7, and is connected to the upper clamp 60 by welding or the like by being wound around the lower surface of the guide body 67. 6
Reference numeral 8 denotes a connecting portion that connects the left and right upper clamps 60,60. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. To adjust the tilt, when the first electric motor 31 is driven forward or backward, the wheel 24 is rotated via the worm gear 30.
Are rotated, and the screw shaft 25 rotates together with the wheel 24, so that the nut 26 screwed to the screw shaft 25 rotates. However, since the nut 26 is fixed to the bracket portion 27, the bracket portion 27 Since the tilt bracket 4 is rotated about the hinge shaft 3 by being pushed or pulled through, the upper shaft 8 tilts in the vertical direction crossing the column axis. Therefore,
First electric motor 3 at an appropriate angle desired by the driver
When the driving of the first bracket 1 is stopped, the tilt bracket 4 is fixed in that state. The second electric motor 5 is used for telescopic adjustment.
When the wheel 3 is driven forward or reverse, the wheel 44 rotates via the worm gear 52, and the screw shaft 45 rotates with the rotation of the wheel 44, and the nut 46 screwed to the screw shaft 45 rotates. However, since the nut 46 is fixed to the bracket part 47, the telescopic bracket 2 advances and retreats from the upper end of the jacket tube 1 because the bracket part 47 moves along the screw shaft 45. At this time, the telescopic bracket 2 has a slot 6
Since the upper clamp 60 is engaged with the upper clamp 60 via the bolts 62 so as to be movable in the axial direction, the upper clamp 60 is slidably supported immediately below the vehicle body fixing point. Further, the upper clamp 60 does not need to be fixed to the portion of the jacket tube 1 where the telescopic bracket 2 is not inserted, and the axial length of the telescopic bracket 2 can be increased, so that the rigidity of the steering column is improved. . When a so-called secondary collision accident in which the occupant collides with the steering wheel occurs due to a vehicle collision accident, the load of the occupant is input to the upper shaft 8, and from the tilt bracket 4 to the telescopic bracket 2 via the bearing 7. The load is transmitted, and the long holes 6
When a load is transmitted to the upper clamp 60 via the first and bolts 62 and the collar 63, the upper clamp 60 separates from the slider 65 and attempts to move in the axial direction of the column. At this time, the energy absorbing plate 66 is plastically deformed. The shock is alleviated by being stretched. According to the present invention described above, a long slot in the axial direction is provided on each of the left and right sides of the telescopic bracket, and a bolt is inserted through the upper clamp which is suspended facing the long slot. Since the bolt is fitted into the elongated hole, and the bolt is penetrated through the jacket tube and the nut is tightened and fixed inside, the telescopic bracket can be fixed to the vehicle body immediately below the vehicle body fixing point of the upper clamp. The cantilever of the telescopic bracket is eliminated, and the support rigidity is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings] FIG. 1 is a partial sectional side view showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line GG of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line FF of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1; FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1; FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a partially modified example of FIG. 4; [Explanation of symbols] 1 ... Jacket tube 2. Telescopic bracket 3. Hinge axis 4 ... Tilt bracket 8. Upper shaft 13. Middle tube 14 ... Lower tube 60 ... Upper clamp 61 ... Long hole 62, 62a ... bolt 63… Color 64, 64a ... nut

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] An upper clamp is detachably fixed to a vehicle body.
The telescopic bracket is movably fitted in the upper end of the jacket tube fixed to the upper clamp so as to be movable in the axial direction, and the driving mechanism moves the telescopic bracket from the jacket tube in the axial direction. Long holes in the axial direction were provided on both left and right sides of the bracket, and they were suspended facing the long holes.
The bolt is inserted through the upper clamp, fitted the bolt in the slot, and a steering column device, characterized in that by penetrating a bolt to the jacket tube and the nut fastened on the inside.