JP3605518B2 - Cable steering system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cable-type steering device in which a steering wheel and a steering gear box are connected by a cable such as a Bowden cable.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There has been proposed a cable-type steering device that employs a flexible transmission means such as a Bowden cable instead of a steering shaft that connects a steering wheel and a steering gear box (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-2431). By employing such a cable-type steering device, not only can the position of the steering wheel relative to the position of the steering gear box be freely selected, but also the vibration of the steering gear box can be hardly transmitted to the steering wheel.
[0003]
FIG. 7 shows a conventional general cable-type steering device. The ends of two inner cables 03 and 04 are wound around a pulley groove 02 formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of a pulley 01 and fixed. You. The two inner cables 03, 04 extending from the pulley 01 are respectively guided inside two outer tubes 06, 07 whose ends are fixed to the pulley housing 05. Cable joints 08 and 09 for fixing the outer tubes 06 and 07 to the pulley housing 05 are disposed on a center plane passing through the center in the thickness direction of the pulley 01 and orthogonal to the rotation axis 010.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the pulley 01 is at the neutral position, one inner cable 03 that has left the pulley 01 at a separation point P on the pulley groove 02 as shown in FIG. It is guided inside the tube 06. Operating the handle to the right and left, the position of the separation point P is moved between P ₁ and P ₂ in the axial direction on both sides of the pulley 01. When the separation point has moved to P _1, the angle alpha ₁ formed by the inner cable 03 away from the inner cable 03 and the pulley groove 02 wound around the pulley groove 02 is small, when the separation point has moved to P _2, the pulley The angle α ₂ formed between the inner cable 03 wound around the groove 02 and the inner cable 03 separated from the pulley groove 02 increases, and the inner cable 03 rubs against the side wall of the pulley groove 02 at the bent portion forming the angle α _2, and There is a problem that noise is generated or wear occurs. Then, this problem occurs similarly for the other inner cable 04.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to prevent the inner cable from rubbing against the side wall of the pulley groove with a simple structure at a separation point where the inner cable separates from the pulley groove.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 includes a driving pulley connected to a steering wheel and rotating, a driven pulley connected to a steering gear box for turning wheels and rotating, a driving pulley and a driven pulley. Two inner cables, both ends of which are wound around a spirally formed pulley groove on the outer peripheral surface, and cable joints provided at both ends are fixed to a pulley housing for accommodating a driving pulley and a pulley housing for accommodating a driven pulley, respectively. And a cable-type steering device having two outer tubes in which an inner cable is slidably fitted , wherein the inner cable of each pulley leaves the pulley groove when the handle is operated left and right from a neutral position. Even if the separation point moves to both ends in the axial direction of the pulley, The way the bending angle of the inner cable may minimize and homogenized, the handle is on the tangent of the pulley groove of each pulley inner cable is set at the separation point leaving the pulley grooves when in the neutral position, the cable An open end of the joint is arranged.
[0007]
According to the above configuration, the open end of the cable joint is arranged on the tangent to the pulley groove at the separation point where the inner cable leaves the pulley groove when the handle is at the neutral position, so that the handle is operated left and right from the neutral position. Thus, even if the separation point moves to both end positions in the axial direction of the pulley, the bending angle of the inner cable at both end positions in the axial direction can be made uniform and minimized. As a result, it is possible to prevent the inner cable from rubbing against the side wall of the pulley groove, and to avoid generation of abnormal noise and wear.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the features of the first aspect, the open end of the cable joint is formed in a funnel shape. According to this configuration, the open end of the cable joint is funnel-shaped. Therefore, the inner cable can be effectively prevented from being strongly rubbed against the opening end.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a cable-type steering device, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 4 in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 1, a drive pulley housing 2 provided in front of a steering wheel 1 of a vehicle and a driven pulley housing 4 provided above a steering gear box 3 are connected by two Bowden cables 5 and 6. . Tie rods 7 extending in the lateral direction of the vehicle body from both ends of the steering gearbox 3 _L, 7 _R are connected left and right wheels W _L, a W _R to a knuckle which supports (not shown).
[0011]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a rotating shaft 10dr fixed to a boss 8 of the handle 1 with a nut 9 is rotatably supported by the driving pulley housing 2, and a driving pulley 11dr is fixed to the rotating shaft 10dr. Is done. The two Bowden cables 5, 6 are composed of outer tubes 5o, 6o and inner cables 5i, 6i slidably housed therein. The outer peripheral surface of the drive pulley 11dr 1 This pulley groove 11 ₁ is formed in a spiral shape, also a spiral cable guide groove 11 _2, 11 ₂ connected to both ends of the pulley groove 11 ₁ on both end faces, the cable Pin holes 11 ₃ and 11 ₃ connected to the guide grooves 11 ₂ and 11 ₂ are formed.
[0012]
The inner cables 5i and 6i of the Bowden cables 5 and 6 are inserted into the pin holes 11 ₃ and 11 ₃ of the drive pulley 11dr by pressing the pins 12 and 12 fixed at one end thereof into the cable guide grooves 11 ₂ and 11 _2. substantially drawn in the same direction from the radial direction at both ends of the drive pulley 11dr wound on the pulley grooves 11 _1. In this case, two inner cables 5i, since 6i is wound so as to approach each other toward the inside in the axial direction outside the pulley groove 11 ₁ of the drive pulley 11dr, two inner drawn from the drive pulley 11dr cable 5i, the pulley groove 11 ₁ between 6i, inner cables 5i, the portion 6i is not wound occurs (see FIG. 4 (a)).
[0013]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, a driven pulley 11dn is fixed to a rotating shaft 10dn rotatably supported by the driven pulley housing 4. The winding structure and fixing structure of the inner cables 5i and 6i around the driven pulley 11dn are the same as those of the driving pulley 11dr described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, and the pins 12 fixed to the other ends of the inner cables 5i and 6i. 12 is press-fitted into pin holes 11 ₃ , 11 ₃ of the driven pulley 11dn, and inner cables 5i, 6i connected to the pins 12, 12 are formed into spiral cable guide grooves 11 ₂ , 11 ₂ formed on the end face of the driven pulley 11dn. is wound and the pulley groove 11 ₁ spiral formed on the outer peripheral surface of the driven pulley 11dn.
[0014]
A pinion 21 is provided at the tip of a rotating shaft 10dn that protrudes from the driven pulley housing 4 into the steering gear box 3, and the pinion 21 is slidably supported in the steering gear box 3 in the left and right direction. The rack 23 is meshed with the rack 23. A power steering motor 24 is supported by the driven pulley housing 4, and a worm 26 provided on the output shaft 25 is meshed with a worm wheel 27 provided on the rotating shaft 10dn inside the driven pulley housing 4. Therefore, the torque of the power steering motor 24 is transmitted to the rotating shaft 10dn via the worm 26 and the worm wheel 27.
[0015]
As is clear from FIG. 5, cable joints 13 are fixed to one ends of the outer tubes 5o and 6o of the Bowden cables 5 and 6, and external threads 13 ₁ and 13 ₁ formed on the outer periphery of the cable joints 13 and 13, respectively. Are screwed together so as to penetrate the wall surface of the drive pulley housing 2 and are locked non-rotatably by lock nuts 14. The cable joints 13, 13 of the two outer tubes 5o, 6o are fixed at mutually twisted positions. Hereinafter, the details will be described using one Bowden cable 5 as an example.
[0016]
Figure 4 (A) and is apparent from FIG. 5, when the handle 1 is in the neutral position, the inner cable 5i wound around the pulley groove 11 ₁ of the driving pulley 11dr is the pulley groove 11 ₁ away at the separation point P and it extends toward the open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13 Te. When drawn tangent T of the pulley groove 11 ₁ through the separation point P, the axis of the cable joint 13 is arranged on the tangent line T. Therefore, in FIG. 5, the inner cable 5i extends linearly without bending before and after the separation point P. Open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13 is spread in a funnel-shaped (see FIG. 3).
[0017]
Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described.
[0018]
When the rotating shaft 10dr is rotated by operating the steering wheel 1 to turn the vehicle, one of the inner cables 5i and 6i wound around the driving pulley 11dr is pulled and the other is loosened, thereby rotating the driving pulley 11dr. Is transmitted to the driven pulley 11dn. As a result, rotates the rotary shaft 10dn of the driven pulley 11dn shown in FIG. 6, the pinion 21 of the steering gear box 3, via the rack 23 and Su-ring rod 22 wheels W _L, the steering torque W _R is transmitted .
[0019]
At this time, since the deviation between the tension on the tension side and the tension on the slack side of the inner cables 5i and 6i is proportional to the steering torque input to the steering wheel 1, the deviation detected by a sensor (not shown) is kept constant. By generating the torque in the power steering motor 24 as described above, the steering operation of the driver can be appropriately assisted.
[0020]
When 2 is rotated to the left side of the handle 1 from the neutral position, the inner cable 6i is wound on the pulley groove 11 ₁ with the inner cable 5i is paid out from the pulley groove 11 ₁ of the driving pulley 11dr, the separation point from P neutral during until P ₁ moves two pitches of the pulley groove 11 ₁ (see FIG. 4 (B) and FIG. 5). As a result, the inner cable 5i in Fig. 5 extends toward the new separation point P ₁ from the open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13, so that the bent at an angle alpha ₁ 'at its separation point P _1.
[0021]
Conversely, when the 2 is rotated to the right of the handle 1 from the neutral position, the inner cable 6i with inner cable 5i is wound around the pulley groove 11 ₁ of the driving pulley 11dr is fed from the pulley groove 11 _1, the separation point at the neutral position P from P ₂ to move two pitches of the pulley groove 11 ₁ of (see FIG. 4 (C) and FIG. 5). As a result, the inner cable 5i in Fig. 5 extends toward the new separation point P ₂ from the open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13, so that the bent at an angle alpha ₂ 'at its separation point P _2.
[0022]
As is apparent from a comparison between FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, the two angles α ₁ and α ₂ are not uniform and α ₂ is extremely large in the conventional example of FIG. 7, but in the present embodiment of FIG. The angles α ₁ ′ and α ₂ ′ are uniform and smaller than the aforementioned α _{2 of the} conventional example. As a result, even when the inner cable 5i is bent at large rotating the handle 1 the separation point P ₁ or separation point P _2, the inner cable 5i is prevented from rubbing strongly on the side wall of the pulley groove 11 _1, abnormal noise Generation and wear can be minimized.
[0023]
Also the separation point moves from P to P ₁ or P _2, as shown in FIG. 5, the bending angle of the inner cable 5i at the open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13 is changed, the axis of the cable joint 13 is the tangent Since they are arranged on the T, the bending angles in both directions are uniform, and the occurrence of abnormal noise and the occurrence of wear are suppressed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13 is formed in a funnel shape, it is possible to inner cable 5i is effectively prevented from rubbing strongly to the open end 13 _2.
[0024]
The above description of one Bowden cable 5 on the drive pulley housing 2 side is similarly applied to the other Bowden cable 6 on the drive pulley housing 2 side or both Bowden cables 5 and 6 on the driven pulley housing 4 side. The duplicate description will be omitted.
[0025]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various design changes can be made in the present invention without departing from the gist thereof.
[0026]
For example, in the embodiment, the steering device that assists the driver's steering force with the power steering motor 24 has been described. However, the present invention does not use the power steering motor 24 and transmits the power via the Bowden cables 5 and 6. The present invention can also be applied to a steering device that performs manual steering only with a given load.
[0027]
Although in the embodiment are arranged across the axis of the cable joint 13 on the tangent line T, it is possible to obtain a sufficient effect by arranging only the open end 13 ₂ of the cable joint 13 on the tangent line T, therefore, It is also possible to arrange the axes of the two cable joints 13, 13 parallel to each other.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the handle is at the neutral position, the inner cable has the open end of the cable joint on the tangent to the pulley groove at the separation point where the inner cable leaves the pulley groove. the separation point by operating the left and right moves to the axial end position of the pulley can be minimized and the the bending angle of the inner cable in their axial end positions uniformly, as a result, have inner cable Rubbing of the side wall of the pulley groove can be prevented, and generation of abnormal noise and wear can be avoided.
[0029]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the open end of the cable joint is formed in a funnel shape, the inner cable can be effectively prevented from being strongly rubbed against the open end.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a cable-type steering device. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG.
1 handle 2 drive pulley housing (pulley housing)
3 steering gear box 4 driven pulley housing (pulley housing)
5i inner cable 5o outer tube 6i inner cable 6o outer tube 11dr drive pulley 11dn driven pulley 11 ₁ pulley groove 13 Cable joint 13 ₂ open end P separation point T tangent line W _L wheel W _R wheels

Claims (2)

A drive pulley (11dr) which is connected to the handle (1) and rotates;
Wheels (W _L, W _R) and the driven pulley to rotate is connected to a steering gear box (3) (11dn) to steer the,
Two inner cables (5i, 6i) having both ends wound around a pulley groove (11 ₁ ) spirally formed on the outer peripheral surfaces of the driving pulley (11dr) and the driven pulley (11dn); and cables provided at both ends. The joint (13) is fixed to a pulley housing (2) for accommodating the driving pulley (11dr) and a pulley housing (4) for accommodating the driven pulley (11dn), and inner cables (5i, 6i) slide therein. In a cable-type steering device including two outer tubes (5o, 6o) that freely fit together,
When the handle (1) is operated left and right from the neutral position, the separation point (P) at which the inner cable (5i, 6i) of each pulley (11dr, 11dn) leaves the pulley groove (11 ₁ ) is set to the pulley (11dr, 11dn). ), The handle (1) is in the neutral position so that the bending angles of the inner cables (5i, 6i) at both axial end positions can be made uniform and minimized. each pulley (11dr, 11dn) inner cable (5i, 6i) of the on the tangent (T) of the pulley groove set (11 ₁₎ at the separation point of leaving the pulley groove (11 ₁₎ (P) when the cable cable type steering apparatus characterized in that a open end (13 ₂₎ of the joint (13). The open end (13) of the cable joint (13) _Two The cable-type steering device according to claim 1, wherein) is formed in a funnel shape.

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