JP2003137114A - Vehicular steering gear - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compactly compose a steering means mechanically separated from a steering mechanism along with a resistance applying means. SOLUTION: The steering means 1 mechanically separated from the steering mechanism of a vehicle and operated for steering is provided with a boss part 11 fixed and supported on a part of a vehicle body via a spindle 10, and an operation ring 12 rotatably supported on a support ring 14 provided around the boss part 11. Magnets 20, 20, etc., and a coil 21 are provided on mutual opposing circumferential faces of the operation ring 12 and the support ring 14, and a reaction force motor 2 is composed applying rotational resistance to the operation ring 12 by energization to the coil 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle steering system for steering a vehicle in response to an operation of a steering means such as a steering wheel performed by a driver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Steering of a vehicle is performed by operating a steering means (generally, a steering wheel rotating operation) performed by a driver inside a passenger compartment, and manipulating a steering wheel (generally a front wheel). This is done by telling the steering mechanism that is arranged outside the passenger compartment for the purpose of direction.

As a steering device for performing such steering, in recent years, the steering means inside the passenger compartment is mechanically separated from the steering mechanism outside the passenger compartment, and a part of the steering mechanism is provided. A steering device of a separate type, in which an actuator for steering is attached, and the actuator is operated based on a detection result of an operation direction and an operation amount of the steering means to perform steering according to an operation of the steering means. However, for example, it is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-218000 by the applicant of the present application.

In this steering apparatus, the correspondence between the operation amount of the steering means and the operation amount of the steering actuator can be freely set without any mechanical restriction, and the vehicle speed can be increased or decreased.
It has an advantage that it is possible to flexibly respond to control of changing steering characteristics according to a traveling state such as turning speed and presence / absence of acceleration / deceleration. An electric motor is used as the actuator in consideration of easiness of control for changing steering characteristics, and the steering means separated from the steering mechanism has a reaction force actually applied to the steering mechanism. A reaction force imparting means for imparting a steering force is additionally provided so that a steering feeling equivalent to that of a non-separable steering device can be obtained.

[0005]

In the separation type steering device as described above, there is no restriction on the structure and arrangement of the steering means mechanically separated from the steering mechanism, and the lever, pedal,
Although an appropriate steering means such as a handgrip can be provided, in actuality, in order to allow the driver to perform a driving operation similar to that of the non-separable steering device, a steering wheel generally used in the non-separable steering device. The steering means simulating is adopted.

In a non-separable steering device, a steering wheel, which is a steering means, has a boss portion fitted and fixed to the tip of a column shaft whose base end is connected to the steering device, and a ring portion supported by the boss portion. And the rotation operation of the ring portion is transmitted to the steering mechanism through the rotation of the column shaft. As shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-218000, a general steering means in a separate type steering device is a steering wheel provided with the boss portion and a ring portion, which is a rotation with a connection with a steering mechanism cut off. While being fitted and fixed to the tip of the shaft, a reaction force motor as reaction force applying means is attached in the middle of the rotation shaft, and the rotation force of the reaction force motor is transmitted to the rotation shaft through the speed reduction means. It is configured to rotate the ring portion against.

However, in the steering means configured as described above, the structure of the reaction force applying means including the speed reducing means and the reaction force motor becomes complicated, and the reaction force applying means is provided inside the vehicle interior by the driver. Occupy the space under your knees or under your feet,
There was a problem that it caused deterioration of habitability. Further, in recent years, various auxiliary devices such as an airbag device that protects an occupant by inflating due to gas supply in the event of a vehicle collision are provided inside the steering wheel as a steering means. Which tends to increase the size of the reaction force imparting means, which makes it difficult to dispose the reaction force inside the vehicle interior, and the inertia of the steering wheel makes the control of the reaction force motor complicated. There was a problem of becoming.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides steering means mechanically separated from the steering mechanism,
A steering device for a vehicle, which has a compact structure including a resistance applying means for applying a steering reaction force, can be easily arranged in a vehicle interior, and can easily control a reaction force motor used as the resistance applying means. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

A vehicle steering system according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises steering means that is operated to steer the vehicle, mechanically separated from the steering mechanism of the vehicle. In the vehicle steering system, the steering means includes a boss portion fixedly supported on a part of the vehicle body via a support shaft, and the boss portion or the support shaft in a plane substantially orthogonal to the axis thereof. It is characterized in that it is provided with an operation ring rotatably supported and a resistance applying means for applying a rotation resistance to the operation ring.

According to the present invention, the operation ring is rotatably supported around the boss portion fixedly supported on a part of the vehicle body through the support shaft, and the operation ring has a rotational resistance (steering) as a reaction force. A reaction means is applied to form steering means. At this time, the boss portion equipped with the accessory device such as the airbag device is non-rotating, and the resistance applying means for applying the turning resistance as the steering reaction force to the lightweight operation ring can be configured compactly, Further, it can be arranged at an appropriate position around the boss portion or a support shaft thereof.

Also, in the vehicle steering system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the resistance applying means in the first aspect of the invention faces the magnets arranged side by side on the circumference of the operating ring and the side circumferences of the magnets. And a coil fixed around the boss portion.

According to the present invention, the magnets arranged side by side on the circumference of the operating ring and the coil fixed around the boss portion are opposed to each other, the operating ring serves as the rotor, and the boss portion is the stator. And a rotational force in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the operating ring is applied to the operating ring as a rotational resistance of the operating ring by energizing the coil. The resistance applying means can be compactly configured by using the boss portion including the support shaft and the operation ring as constituent members, and can control the reaction force according to the running state by controlling the energization of the coil.

Further, in a vehicle steering system according to a third aspect of the present invention, the resistance applying means in the first aspect of the present invention is a large gear formed on the entire circumference of the operating ring, and a small gear meshed with the large gear. And a motor that applies a rotational force to the small gear.

In the present invention, a large gear is formed on the entire circumference of the operating ring, a small gear is meshed with this large gear, and the rotational force applied to the small gear by an appropriate motor is sufficiently reduced. It is transmitted to the operating ring via a large gear and imparts rotational resistance to the operating ring. The rotational force of the motor is transmitted to the operating ring while being sufficiently decelerated by the speed reducing device having the operating ring itself as a constituent member, and a desired steering reaction force can be obtained by the motor having a small output. Further, the resistance applying means is connected to the operation ring, a driven gear formed on the outer periphery of a rotation support ring rotatably supported by the support shaft, and a drive gear meshed with the driven gear, The drive gear may be configured to include a motor that applies a rotational force, and this configuration can also obtain the same operational effect as that of the third invention.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view schematically showing a first embodiment of steering means provided in a vehicle steering system according to the present invention.

The steering means 1 shown in the figure has a support shaft 10 whose base is fixed to a part of the vehicle body, such as the lower part of the dashboard D, a boss 11 which is fitted and fixed to the tip of the support shaft 10, An operation ring 12 supported by the boss portion 11 and the support shaft 10 and rotated in a plane substantially orthogonal to these is provided.

The boss portion 11 has a boss plate 11a fitted and fixed to the support shaft 10 and a resin pad portion 11b for covering the front side of the boss plate 11a.
A publicly known airbag device A including an airbag and an inflator is installed in the interior of the. A plurality of spoke portions 13, 13, ... Are integrally formed around the boss portion 11 in the radial outward direction. The support rings 14 having a rectangular cross section are formed at the tips of the spoke portions 13, 13 ,. Is fixedly supported.

The operating ring 12 is a ring having a circular cross section as shown in the drawing, and has an inner peripheral surface having a width capable of receiving the supporting ring 14 and a depth reaching the center. A recess 15 having a rectangular cross section is circumferentially provided. In addition, the operation ring 12 includes a plurality of spokes 16 and 16 extending obliquely inward.
, And are connected to the rotary support ring 17 by these spokes 16, 16.

In the operation ring 12 constructed as described above, the rotary support ring 17 is supported in the middle of the support shaft 10 via the ball bearing B, and the recess 15 formed in the inner peripheral surface is provided in the support ring. 14
It is loosely fitted to and is rotatably supported coaxially with the support shaft 10 and the boss portion 11. A plurality of magnets 20, 20, ... Are equidistantly arranged in the circumferential direction on the bottom of the recess 15, and a coil 21 is fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the support ring 14 facing the juxtaposed circumference. Thus, the reaction force motor 2 having the support ring 14 as the stator and the operation ring 12 as the rotor is configured.

In the steering means 1 configured as described above, a driver holding the operation ring 12 rotates the operation ring 12 to operate the steering wheel, and the steering wheel is installed in many vehicles as steering means. The same operation as is possible. At this time, the coil 21 on the support ring 14 side
Due to the energization control to the operation ring 12, a rotation resistance in the direction opposite to the direction of the rotation operation is added to the operation ring 12, and the driver who operates the operation ring 12 feels the rotation resistance as a steering reaction force. Becomes

The energization control of the coil 21 is performed by detecting the operation direction of the steering mechanism (not shown) mechanically separated from the steering means 1 and the reaction force applied from the road surface along with the operation. , Based on these detection results. The steering according to the operation of the steering means 1 is realized by driving and controlling a steering motor (not shown) arranged in the steering mechanism based on the detection result of the operation direction and the operation amount of the steering means 1. It These controls are disclosed in the above-mentioned JP-A-10-218000 by the applicant of the present application.

In order to detect the operation direction and the operation amount of the steering means 1, for example, a target 18a provided on the outer periphery of the rotary support ring 17 is fixed to the support shaft 10 which is a fixed part, and is a detector.
The rotation angle detector 18 configured to detect by 18b can be used. This kind of rotation angle detector has been put into practical use in various ways by changing the configurations of the target and the detector, and a rotation angle detector having an appropriate configuration may be used.

In the steering means 1 configured as described above, the reaction force motor 2 is constituted by the operation ring 12 which is rotationally operated for steering and the operation ring 12 itself as a rotor.
Since the steering reaction force is applied by the above, it is not necessary to secure a space for disposing the resistance applying means as the steering reaction force around the steering means 1, and it is possible to easily dispose the resistance providing means in the vehicle interior.

The steering reaction force applied by the reaction force motor 2 may be applied to the lightweight operation ring 12 and is not required for the boss portion 11 in which the airbag apparatus A is built. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the magnet on the inner circumference of the operation ring 12
The reaction force motor 2 including the coil 20 and the coil 21 on the outer circumference of the support ring 14 can be configured without increasing the diameter of the operation ring 12, and there is no fear that the operation feeling will be deteriorated. The operation ring 12 is similar to the ring part in a general steering wheel.
It is desirable to form a non-slip layer made of a foaming resin or the like on the surface so that a good operation feeling can be obtained.

A boss portion in which the air bag device A is incorporated
Since 11 is fixedly supported, power can be easily supplied to the built-in air bag device A and the coil 21 around the outer circumference of the support ring 14, and further, the air bag device A at the time of collision of the vehicle. The expansion of the vehicle is stably performed, and the additional effect that the occupant can be reliably protected is obtained.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view schematically showing a second embodiment of the steering means provided in the vehicle steering system according to the present invention. The steering means 1 shown in this figure is similar to the steering means 1 shown in FIG. 1 in that a support shaft 10 whose base is fixed to a part of the vehicle body.
And a boss portion 11 fitted and fixed to the tip of the support shaft 10, and an operation ring 12 supported by the boss portion 11 and the support shaft 10 and rotating in a plane substantially orthogonal to these. ing.

The structure of the support shaft 10, the boss portion 11 and the operating ring 12 and the supporting relationship thereof are substantially the same as those of the steering means 1 shown in FIG. 1, and corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Detailed description is omitted. The characteristic of the steering means 1 shown in FIG. 2 is the configuration of the resistance applying means for applying a rotational resistance to the operation ring 12, and this resistance applying means is, as shown in the figure, the support shaft 10
The reaction force motor 3 fixed near the supporting position of the base portion provides a rotation resistance via the rotation supporting ring 17.

The reaction force motor 3 has an output shaft which is parallel to the support shaft 10 and extends toward the front end side of the support shaft 10, and the drive gear 30 fitted to the front end of the output shaft is the drive gear 30. Rotating support ring
It is meshed with a driven gear 31 formed on the outer periphery of 17. According to this configuration, the rotational force of the reaction force motor 3 is transmitted to the rotary support ring 17 via the drive gear 30 and the driven gear 31,
Rotational resistance is imparted to the operation ring 12 connected to the rotary support ring 17 by the spokes 16, 16.

In this structure, a space for arranging the reaction force motor 3 is required around the base of the support shaft 10. However, the reaction force motor 3 only applies the steering reaction force to the lightweight operation ring 12. A small-capacity motor capable of adding the above-mentioned structure is sufficient, and there is no fear that it will be difficult to secure the above-mentioned installation space, and the installation in the vehicle interior is easy. Further, a general-purpose motor can be used as the reaction force motor 3, and it can be constructed at a low cost as compared with the first embodiment shown in FIG.

Further, in the second embodiment,
In the first embodiment, by utilizing the facing portion of the operation ring 12 and the support ring 14 which constitute the reaction force motor 2, the target 18a provided on the inner circumference of the former and the detector 18b provided on the outer circumference of the latter are used. The rotation angle detector 18 is configured to detect the operation direction and operation amount of the steering means 1. According to the rotation angle detector 18, a highly accurate detection value can be obtained on the detection circumference having a large diameter. The operation direction and operation amount of the steering means 1 can also be easily detected by a rotation detector such as a rotary encoder attached to the reaction force motor 3.

3 and 4 are side sectional views schematically showing a third embodiment of the steering means provided in the vehicle steering system according to the present invention. Steering means 1 shown in these figures
Similar to the steering means 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is a support shaft 10 whose base is fixed to a part of the vehicle body, a boss 11 fitted and fixed to the tip of the support shaft 10, and the boss. 11 and an operation ring supported by the support shaft 10 and rotating in a plane substantially orthogonal to these.
It has 12 and.

The boss portion 11 is, like the steering means 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a boss plate fitted and fixed to the support shaft 10.
The front side of 11a is covered with a pad portion 11b made of resin, and an airbag device A is built therein. A plurality of spoke portions 13, 13 ... Are integrally formed radially outward around the boss portion 11. These spoke portions 13, 13 ...
A support ring 14 is fixedly supported at the tip of the.

The supporting ring 14 is formed with recesses 19, 19 ... (See FIG. 4) having a rectangular cross section at a plurality of positions on the peripheral surface, and a drive having a small diameter is formed inside one recess 19. Pinion 40
In the inside of the other recesses 19, 19, ..., there are driven pinions 41, 41 ... Of substantially the same diameter as the drive pinion 40.
It is rotatably supported around an axis that is parallel to. Figure 3
A drive pinion 40 and one driven pinion 41 are shown therein.

The operation ring 12 is a ring having a circular cross section, and a recess 42 (see FIG. 4) having a width capable of receiving the support ring 14 is formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof. At the bottom of the recess 42, an internal gear 43 having a tooth profile corresponding to the drive pinion 40 and the driven pinions 41, 41 ...
(Large gear) is integrally formed over the entire circumference.

In the operation ring 12 constructed as described above, the recess 42 is fitted to the peripheral edge of the support ring 14 to restrain the movement in the axial direction, and the internal gear 43 is connected to the drive pinion 40 and the driven pinion. 41, 41 are engaged with each other to restrain movement in the radial direction, and are rotatably supported substantially coaxially with the support shaft 10 and the boss portion 11.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the meshing portion between the drive pinion 40 and the internal gear 43. As shown in the figure, the rotary shaft 44 of the drive pinion 40 penetrates the peripheral wall of the corresponding recess 19 and extends toward the base end side of the support shaft 10. At the extended end of the drive pinion 40, a connecting cylinder having a spline on the inner peripheral surface
45 is integrally formed, and the output end of the reaction force motor 4 is inserted into the connecting cylinder 45 and spline-coupled.

As shown in FIG. 4, the reaction force motor 4 is fixedly supported by a part of the dashboard D to which the support shaft 10 is fixed, and the rotational force of the reaction force motor 4 is transmitted to the drive pinion 40. The rotation of the drive pinion 40 due to this transmission is transmitted to the operation ring 12 through the meshing portion with the internal gear 43, and rotation resistance is imparted to the operation ring 12. At this time, each of the driven pinions 41, 41 ... Rotates around a different axis while maintaining meshing with the internal gear 43, and the operation ring 12 rotates on the circumference of the support ring 14. It acts to guide you.

Also in this configuration, a space for disposing the reaction force motor 4 is required around the steering means 1, but the reaction force motor 4 can apply the steering reaction force only to the lightweight operation ring 12. It is sufficient if the motor has a small capacity, and there is no fear that it will be difficult to secure the above-mentioned installation space, and the installation in the vehicle interior is easy. Further, the rotation of the reaction force motor 4 is transmitted to the operation ring 12 under sufficient deceleration by the large-diameter internal gear 43 meshing with the small-diameter drive pinion 40. Can be realized. Moreover, a general-purpose motor can be used as the reaction force motor 4, and the configuration can be inexpensive.

[0039]

As described in detail above, in the vehicle steering system according to the present invention, the steering means mechanically separated from the steering mechanism is made non-rotatable by the boss portion provided with an accessory device such as an airbag device. Since the rotation resistance is applied as the steering reaction force only to the lightweight operation ring which is fixedly supported and rotatably supported by the boss portion, the device is made compact including the means for applying the reaction force. It is possible to easily arrange the inside of the vehicle interior and to easily control the reaction force motor for applying the reaction force without being affected by inertia. The present invention has excellent effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view schematically showing a first embodiment of a steering means provided in a vehicle steering system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view schematically showing a second embodiment of steering means provided in the vehicle steering system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view schematically showing a third embodiment of steering means provided in the vehicle steering system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of the steering means shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Steering means 2 Reaction force motor (resistance imparting means) 3 Reaction force motor (resistance imparting means) 4 Reaction force motor (resistance imparting means) 10 spindle 11 Boss 12 Operation ring 20 magnets (resistance imparting means) 21 coil (resistance applying means) 30 Drive gear (resistance imparting means) 31 Driven gear (resistance imparting means) 40 Drive pinion (small gear, resistance imparting means) 41 Driven pinion 43 Internal gear (large gear, resistance imparting means) A airbag device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kenji Azuma             3-5-8 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka               Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomoho Kada             3-5-8 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka               Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masaya Segawa             3-5-8 Minamisenba, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka               Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D030 DB15 DB19                 3D033 CA02 CA16 CA28

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle steering system comprising steering means, which is operated to steer a vehicle, mechanically separated from a steering mechanism of the vehicle. A boss portion fixedly supported through the boss portion, an operation ring rotatably supported by the boss portion or the support shaft in a plane substantially orthogonal to the axis of the boss portion, and a rotation resistance of the operation ring. A vehicle steering apparatus, comprising: a resistance applying unit that applies 2. The resistance applying means includes magnets arranged in parallel on the circumference of the operation ring, and a coil fixed around the boss portion so as to face the circumference of the magnets arranged in parallel. Item 1. The vehicle steering device according to Item 1. 3. The resistance applying means includes a large gear formed on the entire circumference of the operating ring, a small gear meshed with the large gear, and a motor for applying a rotational force to the small gear. Item 1. The vehicle steering device according to Item 1.