JP2008239085A - Steering column device lock structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A lock structure for a steering column device capable of greatly reducing the probability of occurrence of a half lock is provided.
In the present invention, at least one of a fixing bracket 15 and a support bracket 17 has a bracket side tooth portion (tilt) in which a bracket side peak portion (tilt peak portion 35a) and a bracket side valley portion (tilt valley portion 35b) are continuous. The movable member 19 can be engaged with the bracket side tooth portion, and the movable side peak portion (tilt lock peak portion 47a) and the movable side valley portion (tilt lock valley portion 47b) are continuously movable. It has side teeth (tilt lock teeth 47), and the movable member 19 is mounted with a flexible member 53 that can be bent and protrudes higher than the height of the movable side ridge. Features.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a lock structure for a steering column device, and more particularly to a lock structure for a steering column device capable of locking a steering column by a movable member that can be moved close to or away from a fixed bracket and a support bracket.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a steering column device is provided with a steering shaft on which a lock mechanism is operated by a turning operation of an operation lever connected via a lock nut to a lock bolt that penetrates a fixing bracket and a support bracket, and a steering wheel is fixed. It can be supported so as to be able to turn in the vehicle up-down direction and the vehicle front-rear direction.

  Specifically, a bracket side tooth portion (tilt tooth portion or telescopic tooth portion) in which a crest portion and a trough portion continue along a long hole through which the lock bolt passes is formed in the fixing bracket and the support bracket. On the other hand, the movable member is formed with a movable side tooth portion (tilt lock tooth portion or telescopic lock tooth portion) that can mesh with the bracket side tooth portion and has a continuous peak portion and trough portion (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

In such a steering column device, if the operation lever is rotated and the lock bolt is tightened with the lock nut, the bracket side tooth portion and the movable side tooth portion are engaged with each other and fastened to fix the position of the jacket tube. Will be held.
Japanese Utility Model Publication 4-35259

  However, in the above-described conventional lock structure, when the bracket side tooth portion and the movable side tooth portion are engaged with each other by the operation lever, the peak portion of the bracket side tooth portion and the peak portion of the movable side tooth portion are in contact with each other. There was a possibility that half-lock would occur.

  If you forcibly operate the operating lever to lock it in this half-locked state, the operating lever will break, or even if it does not break, the peak of the movable side tooth will slide vigorously, and the movable side tooth There is a possibility that a hitting sound may be generated when the crest portion is fitted to the trough portion of the bracket side tooth portion. In this case, there is a possibility of giving the driver an unpleasant feeling.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lock structure of a steering column device that can greatly reduce the probability of occurrence of a half lock.

  In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention has the following features. First, the invention according to the first aspect of the present invention is a lock structure of a steering column device capable of locking a steering column by a movable member that can move close to or away from the fixed bracket and the support bracket. At least one has a bracket side tooth portion where the bracket side peak portion and the bracket side valley portion are continuous, the movable member can mesh with the bracket side tooth portion, and the movable side peak portion and the movable side valley portion are continuous. It has a movable side tooth portion, and the gist is that a flexible member having a peak portion protruding higher than the height of the movable side peak portion is attached to the movable member.

  In addition, the height of a mountain part shall show the length from the lowest position of a valley part to the highest position of a mountain part.

  The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that the peak portion of the flexible member is disposed at the adjacent outermost position adjacent to the movable side peak portion located outside the movable side tooth portion.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the movable member includes a movable main body portion in which a bolt hole through which a lock bolt can be passed is formed, and a movable side portion that is positioned on a side surface of the movable main body portion and in which a movable side tooth portion is formed. A flexible main body portion in which a bolt hole having substantially the same shape as the bolt hole is formed, and a flexible side portion located on a side surface of the flexible main body portion and having a mountain portion The flexible body portion is provided with a step portion that forms a gap between the movable body portion and the flexible body portion when the flexible member is attached to the movable member. The gist.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the flexible member includes a flexible protrusion having a peak formed at the tip, and a flexible attachment portion that is substantially orthogonal to the flexible protrusion and is attached to the movable member. The gist is that a hole through which the flexible protrusion is inserted is formed at a substantially central position of the movable member.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flexible member attached to the movable member is provided with the peak portion protruding higher than the height of the movable side peak portion, so that the tilt adjustment mechanism or the telescopic adjustment mechanism is provided. When locking the bracket (that is, when the movable member comes into contact with the fixed bracket or the support bracket), the peak of the flexible member first contacts the nearest bracket side peak, and then the flexible member By sliding the inclined surface of the side ridge part, the movable side ridge part is guided so as to be fitted to the bracket side valley part, so that the probability of half-locking can be greatly reduced.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, a flexible member can be mounted | worn without adding a significant change to a movable member by arrange | positioning the peak part of a flexible member in adjacent outermost position. .

  According to the invention of claim 3, the flexible main body portion is provided with the step portion that forms a gap between the movable main body portion and the flexible main body portion, so that the flexible member is attached. When the movable side tooth portion and the bracket side tooth portion of the movable member thus formed face each other and half-lock occurs, the periphery of the peak portion of the flexible member is easily bent, and the movable side tooth portion and the flexible member The peak portion and the bracket valley portion can be reliably meshed with each other.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, the flexible protrusion part in which a peak part is formed in the front-end | tip is arrange | positioned in the approximate center position of a movable member, ie, by having one peak part of a flexible member. Since there is only one crest of the flexible member that contacts the nearest bracket crest, the probability of half-locking can be further greatly reduced.

  Next, an example of the lock structure of the steering column device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

(Configuration of steering column device)
First, the configuration of the steering column device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a side view showing the steering column device according to the present embodiment when mounted on a vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a steering column device 1 is inserted into an insertion hole 5 provided in a dash panel 3 and transmits a rotation of a steering wheel 7 disposed at an end to a wheel (not shown). 9, a jacket tube 11 (a lower jacket tube and an upper jacket tube) that supports the steering shaft 9 without covering the rotation thereof, and a lock means 13 (lock structure) provided with a tilt adjustment mechanism. Yes.

(Configuration of locking means)
Next, the configuration of the locking means 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the steering column device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of the locking means constituting the steering column device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a movable member and a flexible member constituting the steering column device according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are possible for the movable member constituting the steering column device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a detailed view when the flexible member is mounted, and FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the movable member and the flexible member constituting the steering column device according to the present embodiment (cross section AA in FIG. 5). Figure).

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the locking means 13 includes a fixing bracket 15 disposed on the jacket tube 11 and connected to a fixing portion on the vehicle side, and is sandwiched by the fixing bracket 15 in the vertical direction and the axial direction. The movable support bracket 17, the movable bracket 19 that can approach or leave the fixed bracket 15 and the support bracket 17, the lock bolt 21, the operation lever 23, and the lock nut 27 provided with the cam surface 25 are roughly configured. ing.

  The fixing bracket 15 is formed in a U shape by a fixing portion 29 connected to a fixing portion on the vehicle side and a side surface portion 33 provided with a long hole 31 (hole portion) through which the lock bolt 21 can pass. A tilt tooth portion 35 (bracket side tooth portion) in which a tilt crest portion 35a and a tilt trough portion 35b are continuous is formed at outer edge portions sandwiching the left and right sides of the long hole 31.

  Note that the tilt tooth portion 35 constitutes a tilt adjustment mechanism that restricts the vertical movement of the steering shaft 9 and the jacket tube 11 in the vehicle vertical direction. Further, the tilt crest 35a constitutes a bracket side crest, and the tilt trough 35b constitutes a bracket side trough. In addition, the tilt crest 35 a and the tilt trough 35 b may be directly formed on the fixed bracket 15, or separate members may be integrally fixed to the fixed bracket 15.

  The support bracket 17 is formed by an arcuate mounting portion 37 disposed on the jacket tube 11 and a side surface portion 41 provided with a long hole 39 through which the lock bolt 21 can be passed.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the movable member 19 is formed integrally with a bolt hole 43 (hole) through which the lock bolt 21 can penetrate and a lock nut 27 provided on the operation lever 23. In conjunction with the movable main body 45, the movable main body 45 is formed with a cam surface 44 that generates a tightening force in the axial direction of the lock bolt 21, and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 (movable side) is located on both side surfaces of the movable main body 45. And a movable side portion 49 on which a tooth portion is formed.

  The tilt lock tooth portion 47 can be fitted to the tilt tooth portion 35, and the tilt lock peak portion 47a and the tilt lock valley portion 47b are continuous. The tilt lock tooth portion 47 constitutes a tilt adjustment mechanism that restricts the vertical movement of the steering shaft 9 and the jacket tube 11 in the vehicle vertical direction. Further, the tilt lock peak portion 47a constitutes a movable side peak portion, and the tilt lock valley portion 47b constitutes a movable side valley portion.

  The movable member 19 is mounted with a flexible member 53 that has a peak portion 51 that can be bent and protrudes higher than the height of the tilt lock peak portion 47a (H1 <H2). The flexible member 53 is made of resin.

  The flexible member 53 is located on both sides of the flexible main body 57 and the flexible main body 57 in which the bolt hole 55 having substantially the same shape as the bolt hole 43 in the movable member 19 is formed. It is comprised by the flexible side part 59 in which the part 51 is formed.

  The flexible member 53 covers the protruding surface 45 a with the flexible main body portion 57 and the side surface 49 a of the movable side portion 49 with the flexible side portion 59 from the protruding surface 45 a side of the movable main body portion 45. The crest 51 of the flexible member 53 is located at the adjacent outermost position S adjacent to the tilt lock crest 47 a located outside the tilt lock tooth 47 (that is, the edge of the flexible side 59). Be placed.

  Here, when the tilt tooth portion 35 formed on the fixed bracket 15 and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 of the movable member 19 to which the flexible member 53 is attached are fitted to the flexible main body portion 57, Between the movable main body 45 and the flexible main body 57 so that the flexible member 53 is bent and the tilt lock peak 47a or the peak 51 of the flexible member 53 and the tilt valley 35b are easily engaged with each other. A step portion 61 is provided to form a clearance.

(Movement of the locking means)
Next, the movement of the locking means 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the movement of the locking means constituting the steering column device according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, when the tilt adjusting mechanism is locked, the movable member 19 moves toward the fixed bracket 15 side. That is, in the steering column device 1, when the operation lever 23 is rotated in the locking direction, the peak portion of the cam surface 25 provided on the lock nut 27 and the peak portion of the cam surface 44 provided on the movable member 19 are in contact with each other. By contacting, a tightening force for tightening the movable member 19 in the axial direction of the lock bolt 21 is generated, the movable member 19 moves in the lock direction (rightward in FIG. 2), and the side surface portion 33 of the fixed bracket 15 is tightened.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), the tilt crest 35a of the tilt tooth portion 35 and the crest 51 of the flexible member 53 are in contact with each other, and are tightened in a state where half-lock occurs. Power is added. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, the crest 51 of the flexible member 53 moves while sliding on the inclined surface of the tilt crest 35a toward the tilt trough 35b.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 8 (d), the peak 51 of the flexible member 53 is fitted into the tilt valley 35b of the tilt tooth 35, so that the tilt peak 35a and the tilt lock peak 47a are formed. Guided to fit without contact.

  At this time, while the step portion 61 of the flexible member 53 is deformed by the clearance, the tilt tooth portion 35 formed on the fixed bracket 15 and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 formed on the movable member 19 mesh with each other. Thereby, the support bracket 17 is fixedly held with respect to the fixed bracket 15, and the tilt adjustment of the jacket tube 11 becomes impossible.

  The telescopic lock locks the tilt adjustment mechanism, and at the same time, the support bracket 17 is tightened to the side surface portion 33 of the fixed bracket 15 to restrict the back and forth movement of the steering shaft 9 and the jacket tube 11 in the steering column axial direction. .

  Here, when unlocking the tilt adjustment mechanism, when the operation lever 23 is rotated in the unlocking direction, the lock nut 27 is rotated and the peak portion of the cam surface 25 provided on the lock nut 27 and the movable member are rotated. Since the contact with the peak portion of the cam surface 44 provided at 19 is released, the movable member 19 moves in the unlocking direction (leftward in FIG. 2).

  Then, the engagement between the tilt tooth portion 35 formed on the fixed bracket 15 and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 formed on the movable member 19 is released. Thereby, the fixed holding of the support bracket 17 with respect to the fixed bracket 15 is released, and the tilt adjustment and the telescopic adjustment of the jacket tube 11 become possible.

(Action / Effect)
According to the locking structure (locking means 13) of the steering column device 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the tilting portion 35a (movable side mountain portion) is high on the flexible member 53 attached to the movable member 19. When the movable member 19 comes into contact with the fixed bracket 15, the first peak 51 of the flexible member 53 is the closest to the tilt peak because the peak 51 protruding higher than (H1 <H2) is provided. Since the tilt lock tooth portion 47 is guided to be fitted to the tilt valley portion 35b by the tightening force after coming into contact with the portion 35a (the bracket side mountain portion), the probability of the half lock occurring is greatly reduced. Can do.

  As a result, the tilt tooth portion 35 of the fixed bracket 15 and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 of the movable member 19 can be easily meshed with each other, so that the operation lever 23 can be forcibly operated in a half-locked state. It is possible to prevent the operation lever 23 from being broken.

  Furthermore, even if the operation lever 23 is not broken, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of a hitting sound when the tilt lock peak portion 47a slides vigorously and the tilt lock peak portion 47a is fitted to the tilt valley portion 35b. It is possible to eliminate discomfort for the driver and the like.

  Further, since the peak portion 51 of the flexible member 53 is disposed at the adjacent outermost position S, the flexible member 53 can be mounted without making a significant change to the movable member 19.

  In addition, since the flexible member 53 is formed of resin, when the peak portion 51 of the flexible member 53 comes into contact with the tilt peak portion 35a (the bracket side peak portion), the flexible member 53 is easy to bend and slip. The probability that a lock will occur can be greatly reduced.

  Further, the movable main body 45 is provided with a step portion 61 that forms a gap between the movable main body 45 and the flexible main body 57, so that the movable member to which the flexible member 53 is attached is provided. 19, when the tilt lock tooth portion 47 (movable side tooth portion) and the tilt tooth portion 35 (bracket side tooth portion) face each other and half-lock occurs, the periphery of the mountain portion 51 of the flexible member 53 bends. Thus, the tilt lock tooth portion 47 and the peak portion 51 of the flexible member 53 and the tilt tooth portion 35 can be reliably engaged with each other.

(Modification 1)
Although the flexible member 53 which concerns on embodiment mentioned above was demonstrated as what was comprised by the flexible main-body part 57 and the flexible side part 59, it can change as follows. Note that the difference from the flexible member 53 in the embodiment described above will be mainly described.

  FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a movable member and a flexible member according to the first modification. As shown in FIG. 9, a flexible member 53 having a peak portion 51 </ b> A is attached to the movable member 19. The flexible member 53 is formed in a U shape by a flexible protrusion 63 having a peak 51A formed at the tip, and a flexible attachment 65 that is substantially orthogonal to the flexible protrusion 63 and is attached to the movable member 19. I am doing. That is, the flexible member 53 is fixed to the movable member 19 by the bolt 67 from the back surface 49 b side of the movable side portion 49 in the movable member 19. The peak portion 51 </ b> A of the flexible member 53 is disposed at the adjacent outermost position S adjacent to the tilt lock peak portion 47 a positioned outside the tilt lock tooth portion 47.

  The flexible member 53 is formed when the tilt tooth portion 35 formed on the fixed bracket 15 and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 of the movable member 19 to which the flexible member 53 is attached face each other and half-lock occurs. The flexible member 53 is bent near the center of the flexible member 53 so that the tilt lock peak portion 47a or the peak portion 51A of the flexible member 53 and the tilt valley portion 35b can be easily engaged with each other. 19 is preferably fixed.

  Thus, according to the lock structure (locking means 13) of the steering column device 1 according to the first modification, the shape of the flexible member 53 is simplified because the flexible member 53 has a U shape. Therefore, the molding cost can be reduced.

(Modification 2)
Although the peak portion 51A of the flexible member 53 according to the above-described embodiment has been described as being disposed at the adjacent outermost position S, it can be modified as follows. Note that the difference from the flexible member 53 in the embodiment described above will be mainly described.

  FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a movable member and a flexible member according to Modification 2. As shown in FIG. 10, a flexible member 53 having a peak portion 51 </ b> B is attached to the movable member 19. The flexible member 53 includes a flexible protruding portion 63 having a peak portion 51B formed at the tip thereof, and a flexible mounting portion 65 that is substantially orthogonal to the flexible protruding portion 63 and attached to the movable member 19. .

  The flexible member 53 is fixed to the movable member 19 by a bolt 67 from the back surface 49 b side of the movable side portion 49 in the movable member 19. The peak portion 51B of the flexible member 53 is disposed at a substantially central position C in the movable member 19 between the tilt peak portions 35a in the tilt tooth portion 35. A hole 49c into which the flexible protrusion 63 can be inserted is formed at the substantially central position C.

  The flexible member 53 is configured such that when the tilt tooth portion 35 formed on the fixed bracket 15 and the tilt lock tooth portion 47 of the movable member 19 to which the flexible member 53 is attached are fitted, the flexible member 53 The tilt lock crest 47a and the crest 51B of the flexible member 53 and the tilt trough 35b are easily engaged with each other so that the tilt lock crest 47a is bent and the tilt trough 35b is fixed. It is preferable.

  Thus, according to the lock structure (locking means 13) of the steering column device 1 according to the modified example 2, the flexible protrusion 63 having the peak portion 51B formed at the tip is disposed at the substantially central position C, that is, Since there is only one crest 51B of the flexible member 53, there is one crest 51B of the flexible member 53 that contacts the nearest tilt crest 35a on the other side, and the probability that half lock will occur. Can be further reduced.

[Other Embodiments]
As described above, the contents of the present invention have been disclosed through the embodiments and modifications of the present invention. However, the description and drawings that constitute a part of this disclosure do not limit the present invention.

  Specifically, the lock means 13 has been described as being provided with a tilt adjustment mechanism. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a telescopic adjustment mechanism may be provided. Of course, both telescopic adjustment mechanisms may be provided.

  For example, when the telescopic adjustment mechanism is provided in the locking means 13, there are a telescopic peak part (bracket side peak part) and a telescopic valley part (bracket side valley part) on the outer edge part sandwiching the upper and lower sides of the long hole 39 in the support bracket 17. Part) is formed as a telescopic tooth part (bracket side tooth part). Further, the movable main body 45 can be fitted to the telescopic tooth portion, and the telescopic lock tooth portion (movable side) in which the telescopic lock mountain portion (movable side mountain portion) and the telescopic lock valley portion (movable side valley portion) are continuous. (Tooth part) is formed.

  Moreover, although the flexible member 53 was demonstrated as what was formed with resin, it is not limited to this, For example, you may of course be a plate-shaped metal which has flexibility.

It is a side view which shows the time of mounting | wearing the vehicle with the steering column apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a partial cross section figure of the steering column apparatus concerning this embodiment. It is a partially exploded perspective view of the steering column device according to the present embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the movable member and flexible member which comprise the steering column apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a perspective view at the time of a flexible member having been attached to a movable member which constitutes a steering column device concerning this embodiment. It is a front view (a), a BB sectional view (b), and a CC sectional view (c) when a flexible member is attached to a movable member constituting the steering column device according to the present embodiment. . It is a partial cross section figure (AA sectional drawing of FIG. 5) of the movable member and flexible member which comprise the steering column apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a partial cross section figure which shows the motion of the locking means which comprises the steering column apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the movable member and flexible member which concern on the example 1 of a change. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the movable member and flexible member which concern on the example 2 of a change.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Steering column apparatus, 3 ... Dash panel, 5 ... Insertion hole, 7 ... Steering wheel, 9 ... Steering shaft, 11 ... Jacket tube, 13 ... Locking means (lock structure), 15 ... Fixed bracket, 17 ... Support bracket, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 ... Movable member, 21 ... Lock bolt, 23 ... Operation lever, 25 ... Cam surface, 27 ... Lock nut, 29 ... Fixed part, 31 ... Long hole, 33 ... Side part, 35 ... Tilt tooth part (Bracket side tooth part) ), 35a: Tilt crest (bracket side crest), 35b: Tilt trough (bracket side trough), 37: Mounting portion, 39: Long hole, 41: Side surface, 43 ... Bolt hole, 44 ... Cam surface 45 ... movable main body, 45a ... projecting surface, 47 ... tilt lock tooth (movable side tooth), 47a ... tilt lock peak (movable side peak), 47b ... tilt lock valley 49: movable side portion, 49a: side surface, 49b ... back surface, 49c ... groove portion, 51, 51A, 51B ... mountain portion, 53 ... flexible member, 55 ... bolt hole, 57 ... flexible body Part 59, flexible side part 61, step part 63, flexible projection part 65, flexible mounting part 67, bolt

Claims (4)

A steering column device locking structure capable of locking a steering column by a movable member that can approach or leave the fixed bracket and the support bracket,
At least one of the fixed bracket or the support bracket has a bracket side tooth portion in which a bracket side peak portion and a bracket side trough portion are continuous,
The movable member can be engaged with the bracket side tooth portion, and has a movable side tooth portion in which a movable side peak portion and a movable side valley portion are continuous,
A lock structure for a steering column device, wherein the movable member is mounted with a flexible member that can be bent and has a peak portion protruding higher than the height of the movable side peak portion.   The said peak part of the said flexible member is arrange | positioned in the adjacent outermost position adjacent to the said movable side peak part located in the outer side of the said movable side tooth part. Steering column device lock structure. The movable member includes a movable main body portion in which a bolt hole through which a lock bolt can penetrate is formed, and a movable side portion that is positioned on a side surface of the movable main body portion and in which the movable side tooth portion is formed,
The flexible member includes a flexible main body portion in which a bolt hole having substantially the same shape as the bolt hole is formed, and a flexible side portion located on a side surface of the flexible main body portion and in which the mountain portion is formed. And
The flexible body portion is provided with a step portion that forms a gap between the movable body portion and the flexible body portion when the flexible member is attached to the movable member. The lock structure of the steering column device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above-mentioned. The flexible member includes a flexible protruding portion in which the peak portion is formed at a tip, and a flexible mounting portion that is substantially orthogonal to the flexible protruding portion and is attached to the movable member,
The lock structure for a steering column device according to claim 1, wherein a hole through which the flexible protrusion is inserted is formed at a substantially central position of the movable member.

Images