JPH11167426A - Lever groove sealing structure for operation lever cover - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the operation of an operation lever, which has good sealing ability and is satisfactory for a long time regardless of the thickness of a sealing material or a lever groove form, by providing the feathers of brush sealing a lever groove without preventing the operation of the operation lever at the lever groove. SOLUTION: The brush bodies 10 are arranged and adhered so that the feathers 11 block the lever groove 6 from the back side of a column cover. Namely, the two brush bodies 10 in lengths covering the half of the groove width of the lever groove 6 are previously prepared. In the two brush bodies 10, the sides of adhesion tapes 14 are arranged on both outer peripheries in the longitudinal direction of the lever groove 6 at the back of the column cover and the feathers 11 are arranged confronting by turning them to the lever groove 6 so as to be adhered. The confronting feathers 11 are set in a state where the feather tips are brought into contact with one another at the center of the lever groove 6. The contact part of the feathers 11 on both sides becomes a moving line where the operation lever 5 moves and the operation lever 5 which is lever-operated moves in the lever groove 6 of a cover member.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a seal structure for a lever groove of a cover member, and more particularly to a seal structure for operably sealing a lever groove of a column shift lever of a steering column cover of an automatic vehicle. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a column shift lever (operation lever) of an automatic vehicle has an operation side of the operation lever covered with a cover member, and the operation lever projects from a lever groove of the cover member. The lever groove has a straight or bent shape, and the inside of the groove is sealed by a rubber sheet having a cut corresponding to the groove shape so that the operation lever can be operated.

[0003]

However, if the sealing material of the rubber sheet for sealing the lever groove is thin, it is not durable and breaks, and if it is thick, the lever operation resistance is large and the operability is poor. In addition, when the sealing material is arranged on a curved surface, the rubber sheet is likely to be wrinkled or deformed, which causes inconvenience in the sealing property. In particular, when the lever groove of the automatic column shift lever has a bent shape, the deformation of the sealing material has a disadvantage that resistance when operating the lever is increased.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages in the conventional rubber sheet lever groove sealing material, and the sealing property is improved regardless of the thickness of the sealing material or the shape of the lever groove. An object of the present invention is to provide a lever groove seal structure of a cover member which has good operability of an operation lever for a long time.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cover in which an operating lever of an operating device is protruded to be operable and covers a base side of the operating lever. In the lever groove of the member, a fuzz of a brush body that seals the lever groove without disturbing the operation of the operation lever is disposed in the lever groove.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operating device is operated by operating the operating lever. The operation lever operated by the lever moves within the lever groove of the cover member. Although the gap between the lever grooves is sealed, the operation lever can move in the lever groove while falling down the fluff because the gap is formed by the fluff of the brush body. The fallen fluff returns to its original position due to its elasticity (rigidity) and seals the lever groove (gap).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the first aspect of the present invention, the brush body is formed of a flat band-shaped body having a large number of fluffs fixed at predetermined one edges. A flat band-shaped brush body is fixed along the outer periphery of the cover member in a state in which the free end side of the fluff is disposed in the lever groove to close the lever groove.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the lever groove is sealed by the fluff of a flat brush fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the groove of the cover member. The operation lever is moved in the lever groove while defeating the fluff. The fluff that has fallen when the operating lever is moved returns to its original position due to its elasticity. The flat band-shaped brush body is easily arranged and fixed on the outer periphery of the lever groove of the cover member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the second aspect of the present invention, the flat belt-like brush body is provided such that the brush body of the cover member is positioned on both sides of the lever groove of the cover member. The free end of the fluff is arranged to close the groove with the free end side facing the inside of the lever groove, and is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the lever groove of the cover member.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the lever groove has fuzz protruding from both sides thereof in opposite directions, and the groove is closed. When the operating lever is moved, the fluff on both sides of the groove comes into contact with the operating lever and falls down, and the fluff that has fallen after passing the operating lever returns to its original position due to its elasticity. Since the movement of the operation lever is performed by tilting the fluff on both sides in the lever groove, the resistance at the time of movement is uniform, and the movement can be performed smoothly.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with respect to a case of a seal structure of a lever groove of a column shift lever (hereinafter, abbreviated as a shift lever, also referred to as an operation lever) of an automatic vehicle. This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a steering column cover (hereinafter abbreviated as a column cover) 1 which covers the steering shaft H of a steering shaft portion S.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the column cover 1 is divided into an upper part 1 </ b> A and a lower part 1 </ b> B. The shape is

As shown in FIG. 1, a hole 4 (see FIG. 10) for a direction indicator lever (side turn signal lever) L and a lever groove for a shift lever 5 are provided on the left side surface of the column cover 1. A (long hole) 6 is provided. The lever groove 6 is sealed by the fluff (hair) 11 of the brush body 10.

A brush body 10 shown in FIG. 6 is used for sealing the lever groove 6. The brush body 10 has a single yarn 150
Fluff having moderate rigidity of denier filament yarn 1
One, for example, three strands are twisted to form a two-fold length.
2 are arranged in the same direction and are sequentially bound by the binding thread 13 to form a long sheet (flat). The width W1 of the brush body 10
The size is such that the fluff 11 can cover half of the groove width W of the lever groove 6. The brush body 10 shown in FIG. 6 has two rows of binding threads 13 on the bending side 12 of the fluff 11 to prevent the fluff 11 from coming off. The binding thread 13 may be a thread body such as cotton, or may be heat-sealed using a fusion thread.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a belt-like double-sided adhesive tape 14 is attached to one side of the sheet-like brush body 10 on the side of the binding thread 13. The brush body to which the adhesive tape 14 is attached is prepared in a state where the release tape 15 is attached to the adhesive tape 14, and the release tape 15 is peeled off at the time of use, and the brush body 10 is exposed at the exposed adhesive portion. Glued.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a sheet-like brush body 20 is composed of a plurality of twisted long fluff 2.
Is folded in a zigzag shape of a predetermined length, and binding yarns 23 are bound in a plurality of rows on bending sides 22 at both ends to form a sheet in which both ends are bound. The width W2 of the brush body 20 is the fluff 2
1 is sized to cover the groove width W of the lever groove 6.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a belt-shaped double-sided adhesive tape (hereinafter, referred to as an adhesive tape) 14 is attached to one surface of the brush body 20 on both sides of the binding thread 23, and the brush body 20 is separated from the adhesive tape 14 surface. Tape 15 is attached. When the brush body 20 is used, the release tape 15 is peeled off, and the brush body 20 is adhered to the surface of the adhesive tape 14.

The fluffs of the brush bodies 10 and 20 are made of synthetic resin fibers such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic.
Alternatively, natural fibers having moderate elasticity such as horse hair can be used. The thickness of the fluff is, for example, a single yarn of 5 to 300 denier or one or a plurality of twisted yarns. It is preferable to use thin fluffs 11 and 21 to improve the sealing property of the lever groove 6 and to use thick fluffs 11 and 21 to improve the shape retention of the fluffs 11 and 21. If necessary, both may be mixed. Fluff 11,
The length of 21 is, for example, 3 to 20 mm. Note that a plurality of sheet-shaped brush bodies 10 and 20 may be stacked, and the fixed side thereof may be fixed by heat fusion, a double-sided adhesive tape, or an adhesive. When the sheet-like brush bodies 10 and 20 are stacked, if necessary, fluffs 11 and 21 having different thicknesses and densities can be stacked.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the brush body 10 has the lever groove 6 from the back side of the column cover 1 and the fluff 1
1 is placed so as to close and adhered. That is, two brush bodies 10 having a length covering half of the groove width W of the lever groove 6 are prepared in advance. As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, the two brush bodies 10 are arranged such that the adhesive tape 14 is disposed on both outer circumferential sides of the lever groove 6 on the back surface of the column cover 1 and the fluff 11 faces the lever groove 6. And adhered. The facing fluff 11 is brought into a state where the fluff tip comes into contact at the center of the lever groove 6. The contact portions of the fluffs 11 on both sides form a movement line 30 on which the operation lever 5 moves.

When the brush body 20 shown in FIG. 8 is used, as shown in FIG. 5, on the back surface of the column cover 1, the length direction of the brush body 20 is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the lever groove 6, and the fluff 21 is formed. The brush body 2 is disposed so as to cover the lever groove 6, and is provided around the lever groove 6 of the column cover 1.
0 Adhere with adhesive tapes 14 on both sides. The portion of the fluff 21 that closes the lever groove 6 of the brush body 20 after the bonding is cut in the longitudinal direction at the center of the width, and the moving line 30 of the operation lever 5 is formed. The outer periphery of the lever groove 6 in the longitudinal direction of the brush body 20 does not need to cut the fluff 21. This improves the fixability of the adhered brush body 20.

The predetermined positions of the moving line 30 of the brush bodies 10, 20 such as the parking (P) and the drive (D) where the operation lever 5 stops frequently have cutout holes 30A, 30B for eliminating the resistance of the fluff. Have been.

Thus, as shown in FIG.
The column cover 1 which seals the lever groove 6 at 0 and 20 is attached to cover the device section 36 mounted on the steering shaft section S of the automatic car. The column cover 1 is mounted by matching the upper part 1A and the lower part 1B in a separated state. The device unit 36 has a turn signal lever L and a shift lever 5 operably mounted thereon.

The assembly portion of the device section 36 relating to the shift lever 5 is mainly a cable 37 and is connected to an operating body (not shown) of the shift lever 5. For this reason, the predetermined operation of the shift lever 5 performs the shift operation in the operation main body.

10 and 11, the shift lever 5
Is moved up and down in the lever groove 6 as necessary. Although the lever groove 6 is sealed by the fluff 11, the shift lever 5 is disposed so as to face each other from both sides of the groove width W, and the portion in contact with the fluff tip is the moving line 30.
Can be satisfactorily moved while pushing the fluff 11. The fluff 11 where the shift lever 5 has passed has returned to its original position due to its rigidity (elasticity), so that the sealability is good. Since the lever groove 6 is sealed with the fluff 11,
The contact resistance between the operation lever 5 and the fluff 11 of the sealing material is small, and the operability is good.

When the brush body 20 was attached to the lever groove 6 of the column cover 1, the operation of the shift lever 5 was also good.

In the above-described embodiment, the column cover 1, ie, the cover member has a curved surface (for example, a convex curved surface), and the curved lever groove 6 along the curved surface is sealed by the fluffs 11, 21 of the brush bodies 10, 20. In this case, the operability of the operation lever 5 and the sealing property of the lever groove 6 were also good when the lever groove 6 was provided in the plane.

Although the seal structure of the lever groove 6 of the above-described embodiment is the case of the lever groove 6 of the shift lever 5, the seal structure of the lever groove 6 is not limited to the shift lever 5, but may be a tilt lever or a tilt lever. The present invention can be applied to a lever groove seal structure of a cover member of an operation lever of various shift devices such as a lock lever.

Further, the moving line is not limited to a straight line, but can be formed satisfactorily by a brush body even in a bent shape or a zigzag shape, so that the operation lever can be satisfactorily operated.

FIG. 12 shows a case in which the brush body 20 is divided and attached to the lever groove 6 of the column cover 1 of the operation lever for moving and operating in a curved shape. That is, the lever groove 6 is sealed by the fluff 21 which is divided into two in a curved shape as shown in FIG. 12 so as to correspond to the movement of the operation lever, the width W2 of the brush body 20 shown in FIG. The operation lever is satisfactorily operated along the opposing curved movement line 30 of the cut fluff 21. (Note that in FIG. 12, the same members as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals.)

[0029]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the sealing material is made up of the brush body, the sealing property is good, and the operating lever of the operating lever is irrespective of the thickness of the sealing material or the shape of the lever groove. Operability can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the seal member is a flat band-shaped brush, the seal member can be easily attached.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the lever groove is sealed with the opposing fluff, the resistance at the time of operating the operation lever becomes uniform, and the lever operation can be performed smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a column cover according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a column cover divided body mainly including a lever groove.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged rear view of the lever groove of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of another example of the lever groove of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a brush body applied to a lever groove.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the brush body of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a brush body having another shape.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the brush body of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a column cover with a steering wheel mounted.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view mainly showing the lever groove of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a rear view of still another example in which a lever groove is sealed with a brush body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Column cover 5 Shift lever (operation lever) 6 Lever groove 10,20 Brush body 11,21 Fluff 12,22 Folding side 13,23 Binding thread 15 Double-sided adhesive tape (Adhesive tape) 30 Moving line 35 Steering column 36 Device 37 Cable

Claims (3)

[Claims] An operating device of an operating device has a lever groove protruding so as to be operable and covering a base side of the operating lever, wherein the lever groove is provided in the lever groove without obstructing the operation of the operating lever. A lever groove sealing structure for a cover member, characterized in that a fuzz of a brush body for sealing the cover is provided. 2. A brush body comprising a flat belt-like body having a large number of fluffs fixed at predetermined one edges, wherein the free ends of the fluffs are arranged in lever grooves to close the lever grooves. The lever groove sealing structure for a cover member according to claim 1, wherein the belt-like brush body is fixed along an outer peripheral portion of the lever groove of the cover member. 3. A brush body of a flat band-like body is arranged so that the free end side of the fluff of the brush body is opposed to both sides of the lever groove of the cover member in the lever groove so as to close the groove. The lever groove seal structure for a cover member according to claim 2, wherein the cover member is fixed to an outer peripheral portion of a lever groove of the cover member.