JP2001191926A - Length adjustment mechanism for automobile steering wheel shaft - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To freely adjust a length of a steering wheel shaft, and to freely deal with any bolt insertion hole type steering wheel if only preparing one additional installation member. SOLUTION: In this mechanism, an end edge of a steering boss is provided with a ring-like base frame allowing bolting, the inner circumferential wall of the base frame is formed with a female screw, the steering wheel is provided with an adjustment pipe body allowing bolting, the circumferential wall of the pipe body is formed with longitudinal slits extending toward the base end from the tip, the peripheral wall of the pipe body is formed with a male screw, rotation prevention bolts capable of freely fitting in the longitudinal slits are installed to the inner circumferential wall of the base frame, and the female screw of the base frame can be freely screwed on the male screw of the pipe body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for adjusting the length of a handle shaft for a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to a method of easily adjusting a distance between a driver and a handle to a desired size, which is useful for safe driving. The present invention relates to a handle shaft length adjusting mechanism configured as described above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a steering wheel for an automobile has been directly attached to a steering boss attached to the tip of a steering shaft via bolts (generally using six bolts). Therefore, the length of the handle shaft may be insufficient depending on the individual differences of the driver. In such a case, a biting plate (clogging plate) having an appropriate thickness such as, for example, 25 mm, 50 mm, 75 mm, or 100 mm is used. Was interposed between the steering boss and the steering wheel to add dimensions.

As a type of the bolt insertion hole used for attaching the steering wheel to the steering boss, a type in which a radial distance from a center point of the steering wheel is conventionally formed on a concentric circle having a shorter radius (short type) is known. And a type formed on a long concentric circle (long type).

[0004]

However, since the additional dimension itself is fixed in the dimension adding technique using the bite plate method described above, once the dimension is added, the length of the handle shaft is determined in that state. However, there was an inconvenience that the subsequent dimension adjustment could not be performed at all.

Further, the type of the bolt insertion hole (short type and long type) used for attaching the steering wheel to the steering boss is automatically determined based on the size of the steering wheel and the like. In order to be able to do so, two additional types of bolt insertion holes for the two types were prepared separately for additional mounting members such as plates interposed between the steering boss and the handle, so wasteful and uneconomical There was a problem.

A first object of the present invention is to make it possible to freely adjust the length of the handle shaft even after once adding dimensions, and a second object is to make any one of the bolt insertion holes. It is also possible to freely respond to the type by simply preparing one additional attachment member. This is intended to solve the above problem.

[0007]

As means for solving the problems of the present invention, first, a steering boss is attached to a tip of a steering shaft,
A ring-shaped base frame that can be bolted to an end edge of the steering boss is provided on a handle shaft for attaching a handle to the steering boss via a bolt,
A female screw is formed on the inner peripheral wall of the base frame, and an adjusting cylinder that can be bolted is provided on the handle, and a vertical slit extending from the distal end toward the proximal end is formed on the peripheral wall of the adjusting cylindrical body. At the same time, an external thread is formed on the outer peripheral wall of the adjusting cylinder, a detent bolt that can be fitted into the vertical slit is attached to the inner peripheral wall of the base frame, and the adjusting cylinder is attached to the internal thread of the base frame. A handle shaft length adjusting mechanism for an automobile, wherein a male screw is configured to be screwed freely.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a lock nut having a female thread formed on an inner peripheral wall thereof is screwed to a male thread of the adjusting cylinder so as to be located outside the base frame. This is a handle shaft length adjustment mechanism for automobiles.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a short type bolt insertion hole and a long type bolt insertion hole are formed in both the base frame and the adjustment cylinder in a coexisting state. Item 3. A handle shaft length adjusting mechanism according to Item 1 or 2.

[0010] The length adjusting mechanism of the handle shaft according to the first aspect of the present invention, even after the dimension is added once.
The length of the handle shaft can be readjusted (usually 35 to 85 mm
(Adjustable with a width of about).

Further, the handle shaft length adjusting mechanism according to the second aspect is characterized in that the presence of the lock nut can reliably prevent the base frame from being loosened.

Further, in the handle shaft length adjusting mechanism according to the third aspect, regardless of the type of the bolt insertion hole, the base frame and the adjustment cylinder can be used in a state where two types of bolt insertion holes coexist. Therefore, there is a feature that any type can be perfectly supported only by using one additional member.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a length adjusting mechanism for a handle shaft for an automobile according to the present invention will be described in detail, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

First, the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. A steering boss 2 having a cylindrical shape is attached to the tip of a steering shaft 1. A ring-shaped base frame 3 is fixed to an edge 2a of the steering boss 2 by six bolts 4, 4,.
A female screw 5 is formed on an inner peripheral wall 3 a of the base frame 3.

On the other hand, the flange portion 7a of the adjusting cylinder 7 is fixed to the handle 6 by six bolts 8, 8,. Vertical slits 9, 9 extending from the distal end toward the base end are formed in the peripheral wall of the adjusting cylinder 7, and a male screw 10 is formed on the outer peripheral wall of the adjusting cylinder 7.

Further, the inner peripheral wall 3 of the base frame 3
The non-rotating bolt 11 is attached to a. Reference numeral 12 denotes a lock nut provided so as to be located outside the base frame 3.
A female screw 13 is also formed in 2a. Reference numeral 14 denotes a cover member for blindfold.

Next, the assembling situation of the present invention according to the above configuration will be described. First, the base frame 3 is attached to the end edge 2a of the steering boss 2 by six bolts 4, 4,.
, And 21 and 21 are previously drilled in the base frame 3, six bolts for each type, a total of 12 bolt insertion holes. ing.

That is, the six bolt insertion holes 20, 20,.
… Applies to the short type,
The other six bolt insertion holes 21, 21,... Are applied to the long type, and the two types are alternately formed.

Subsequently, the flange portion 7a of the adjusting cylinder 7 is fixed to the handle 6 with bolts 8, 8,..., And the same two types of bolt insertion holes 2 as described above are also provided in the flange portion 7a.
.. And 21, 21,... Are perforated, so the above applies equally.

Here, depending on the type of the handle 6, it is determined which type of the bolt insertion hole 20 or 21 is to be used, and the six bolts 4, 4,... , Six bolts 8, 8,
... will be inserted. The bolt insertion holes of the type not selected will remain unused in a hollow state. In this way, the steering boss 2 and the base frame 3 and the handle 6 and the flange portion 7a of the adjustment cylinder 7 are fixed so as to be integrated.

The head 11a of the detent bolt 11 attached to the inner peripheral wall 3a of the base frame 3 is connected to the inner peripheral wall 3a.
Position slightly protruding inward. The vertical slits 9, 9 of the adjusting cylinder 7 are applied to the head 11a of the detent bolt 11, and the adjusting cylinder 7 is pushed into the base frame 3, and at the same time, the male screw 10 and the female screw 5 of both are screwed together. Then, the detent bolt 11 is
The setting of both members is completed in the state of having entered the inside.

When the adjustment cylinder 7 is rotated by a desired amount in this state, the adjustment cylinder 7 relatively expands and contracts with respect to the base frame 3. Here, since the position of the base frame 3 is fixed by the steering boss 2, the adjusting cylinder 7 has a long handle axis dimension L1 or a short handle axis dimension L2 in the handle axis direction (FIG. 5). And FIG. 6).

As described above, when the lock nut 12 is tightened by using a wrench or the like at the stage where the optimum handle shaft length is obtained, a secure tightening state between the two is ensured.

If necessary, as shown in FIG.
A desired number of biting plates 15 may be interposed as appropriate.

[0025]

As described above, according to the handle shaft length adjusting mechanism of the present invention, the screwing positional relationship between the adjusting cylinder and the base frame is adjusted in accordance with the actual individual difference of the driver. There is an excellent effect that the length of the handle shaft can be adjusted to an optimum state.

The present invention is also characterized in that all types of bolt insertion holes can be accommodated simply by providing a single handle shaft length adjusting mechanism.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a handle shaft length adjusting mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the previous figure.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of the preceding figure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the length adjusting mechanism when the length of the handle shaft is elongated.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the length adjusting mechanism when the length of the handle shaft is reduced.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment in which a biting plate is interposed between a steering boss and a base frame.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Steering shaft 2 ... Steering boss 2a ... Edge of steering boss 3 ... Base frame 3a ... Inner peripheral wall of base frame 4, 8 ... Bolt 5 ... Female screw of base frame 6 ... Handle 7 ... Adjustment cylinder 7a ... Adjustment cylinder Flange 9 of the body 9 Vertical slit 10 Male screw of adjusting cylinder 11 Lock bolt 12 Lock nut 12 a Internal wall of lock nut 13 Female screw of lock nut 14 Cover member 15 Biting plate 20 ... Bolt insertion hole for short type 21 ... Bolt insertion hole for long type L1 ... Long handle shaft dimension L2 ... Short handle shaft dimension

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A steering shaft in which a steering boss is attached to a tip of a steering shaft and a handle is attached to the steering boss via a bolt, a ring-shaped base frame which can be bolted to an end edge of the steering boss is provided. A female screw is formed on the inner peripheral wall of the base frame, an adjusting cylinder that can be bolted is provided on the handle, and a vertical slit extending from the distal end toward the proximal end is engraved on the peripheral wall of the adjusting cylindrical body. A male screw is formed on the outer peripheral wall of the adjusting cylinder, a detent bolt that can be freely fitted in the vertical slit is attached to the inner peripheral wall of the base frame, and the male screw of the adjusting cylinder is mounted on the female screw of the base frame. A length adjusting mechanism for a steering wheel shaft for an automobile, wherein a screw is configured to be screwed freely. 2. The length of a handle shaft for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein a lock nut having a female screw formed on an inner peripheral wall thereof is screwed to a male screw of the adjusting cylinder so as to be located outside the base frame. Adjustment mechanism. 3. The handle according to claim 1, wherein a bolt insertion hole for a short type and a bolt insertion hole for a long type are formed in both of the base frame and the adjusting cylinder. Shaft length adjustment mechanism.