JP3960975B2 - Steering column joint mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering column joint mounting structure.

  In a vehicle steering apparatus, a steering column joint is serrated to a steering shaft protruding from a steering gear housing, and a steering wheel is connected to the steering column joint via a steering column shaft.

  In the steering device, it is necessary to serration-couple the steering column joint to the steering shaft in a state where the linear movement position of the steering column joint is aligned with the linear movement position of the steering shaft.

In Patent Document 1, as a steering column joint mounting structure for facilitating alignment of a steering shaft and a steering column joint, a cap attached to a gear housing is serrated to the steering shaft and engaged with the cap. The guide chip is formed with a guide portion that engages with a slit of a steering column joint.
Reality 6-24300

The prior art of Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
(1) It requires two parts, a cap and a guide tip, and is complicated.

  (2) The guide tip includes an annular portion that engages with the positioning portion of the cap on the lower end side, and the guide portion is raised from the annular portion. For this reason, the guide portion is cantilevered by the annular portion, and the alignment accuracy of the steering column joint with respect to the steering shaft is poor.

  An object of the present invention is to simplify the parts used for coupling a steering column joint to a steering shaft, and to increase the accuracy of alignment between the steering shaft and the steering column joint.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steering column joint mounting structure in which a steering column joint is serrated to a steering shaft protruding from a steering gear housing, and a cap for aligning the mounting angular position of the steering column joint with respect to the steering shaft. The cap is provided with a ring-shaped fitting portion that serration-couples to the serration of the steering shaft on the lower end side, and the ring-shaped insertion portion that is inserted into the protruding end portion of the torsion bar protruding from the end surface of the steering shaft And a rectilinear position guide portion extending from the insertion portion to the fitting portion so that the rectilinear alignment portion of the steering column joint is engaged.

(Claim 1)
(a) By simply interposing a cap between the steering shaft and the steering column joint, it is possible to align the straight position of the steering column joint with the straight position of the steering shaft. The alignment of the column joint can be facilitated.

(b) the cap is provided with a ring-shaped fitting portion which serration coupled to the serration of the steering shaft on the lower end side, with a ring-shaped insertion portion to be inserted into the projecting end of the steering shaft on the upper end side, steering A rectilinear position guide portion that engages with the rectilinear alignment portion of the column joint extends from the insertion portion to the fitting portion. For this reason, the straight-ahead position guide portion is stably supported at both ends by a fitting portion that is stably coupled to the steering shaft and an insertion portion that is stably inserted into the protruding end portion of the steering shaft. The alignment accuracy of the steering column joint with respect to the steering shaft is good.

  (c) By inserting the cap insertion portion into the protruding end portion of the torsion bar protruding from the end surface of the steering shaft, the cap insertion portion can be easily and reliably inserted.

  1 is a partially cutaway front view of a power steering device, FIG. 2 shows a cap according to a first embodiment, (A) is a sectional view, (B) is a front view, (C) is a plan view, D) is a bottom view, FIG. 3 is a side view showing a fitting state of the cap to the steering shaft, FIG. 4 is a fitting state of the steering column joint to the steering shaft, (A) is a side view, and (B). Is a plan view, FIG. 5 is a side view showing a fitting state of the cap of the second embodiment to the steering shaft, FIG. 6 is a fitting state of the steering column joint to the steering shaft, (A) is a side view, (B) is a plan view.

  In the electric power steering apparatus 10, a steering column shaft 11 to which a steering wheel is coupled and a steering shaft 13 protruding from a steering gear housing 12 are connected by a steering column joint 14. A pinion shaft (not shown) is connected to the steering shaft 13 via a torsion bar 15, and a rack shaft 16 that meshes with the pinion shaft is supported by the gear housing 12 so as to be movable left and right. The rack shaft 16 is connected to left and right tie rods 17A and 17B.

  The electric power steering device 10 supports the electric motor 18 on the gear housing 12, and transmits the output of the electric motor 18 to the pinion shaft through a worm gear device (not shown), and further transmits it to the rack shaft 16 as a steering assist force. The electric power steering device 10 is provided with a steering torque detection device (not shown) between the steering shaft 13 and the pinion shaft. The steering torque detection device detects the steering torque from the relative displacement amount of the steering shaft 13 and the pinion shaft due to the elastic torsional deformation of the torsion bar 15 via the steering shaft 13 by the steering torque applied to the steering wheel. When the steering torque detected by the steering torque detector exceeds a predetermined value, the electric motor 18 is driven to apply a steering assist force to the rack shaft 16.

  However, in the electric power steering apparatus 10, the serration 14 </ b> A of the steering column joint 14 is serration-coupled to the serration 13 </ b> A provided on the steering shaft 13. The steering shaft 13 and the steering shaft 13 are accurately aligned with the straight position of the steering shaft 13 in the neutral state where the torsion bar 15 is not twisted and the straight position of the steering column joint 14 where the steering wheel is in the neutral position. It is necessary to serrately connect the steering column joint 14. For this reason, the electric power steering apparatus 10 has the following configuration as a mounting structure of the steering column joint 14.

First Embodiment (FIGS. 2 to 4)
The electric power steering apparatus 10 uses a synthetic resin cap 20 to align the mounting angle position of the steering column joint 14 with respect to the steering shaft 13.

  The cap 20 includes a ring-shaped fitting portion 21 that serration-couples to the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 on the lower end side, and is inserted into the protruding end portion of the torsion bar 15 protruding from the end surface of the steering shaft 13. An insertion portion 22 is provided on the upper end side, and extends from the insertion portion 22 to the fitting portion 21 at a part of the circumferential direction of the cap 20 so that the slit-like straight alignment portion 14B of the steering column joint 14 is engaged. And a rectilinear position guide portion 23 in the form of a thin plate rib. The rectilinear position guide portion 23 includes a concave portion 23A that allows passage of a retaining bolt 27 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cap 20 is aligned with a rectilinear positioning portion 12A provided on the steering gear housing 12 (for example, the rectilinear position guide portion 23 is aligned with the rectilinear positioning portion 12A in the circumferential direction of the cap 20). The serration 21A of the fitting portion 21 is serrated and connected to the lowermost portion of the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 in the straight traveling position. Then, the cap 20 engages the rectilinear position aligning portion 14B provided on the steering column joint 14 with the rectilinear position guide portion 23, thereby aligning the steering column joint 14 to the rectilinear position, while the serration of the steering column joint 14 is reached. 14A is led to serration coupling with the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13. At this time, the steering shaft 13 is in a mounted state in which the straight position of the steering column joint 14 is aligned with the straight position of the steering shaft 13.

  The cap 20 has fitting / removal means 24 (cut 25, flexible portion 26). When the serration 14A of the steering column joint 14 is inserted to the bottom of the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13, the lower end surface of the steering column joint 14 that has completed serration coupling with the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 is the fitting portion of the cap 20 It collides by interfering with the upper end surface of 21. At this time, the fitting / removing means 24 causes the fitting portion 21 to be released downward from the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13, as shown in FIG.

  Specifically, the fitting / removing means 24 is a slit-like cut provided in a part in the circumferential direction of the fitting portion 21 when the insertion force of the steering column joint 14 presses the fitting portion 21 downward. 25 expands, the fitting part 21 expands in diameter, and can be detached from the serration 13 </ b> A of the steering shaft 13. Then, the insertion force of the steering column joint 14 presses the fitting portion 21 downward, whereby a rib shape is formed between the fitting portion 21 and the insertion portion 22 on the upper end side inserted into the torsion bar 15. The laterally substantially U-shaped flexible portion 26 provided in a part of the guide portion 23 in the longitudinal direction is deformed and extended, whereby the fitting portion 21 is detached from the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 and displaced downward. .

Therefore, the procedure for attaching the steering column joint 14 is as follows.
(1) With the linear movement position guide portion 23 of the cap 20 aligned with the linear movement positioning portion 12A of the steering gear housing 12, the fitting portion engages with the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 in the straight movement position (the torsion bar 15 is in a neutral state). 21 serrations 21A are serrated. The fitting part 21 is assembled to the lowest part of the serration 13A.

  (2) The rectilinear alignment portion 14B of the steering column joint 14 is engaged with the rectilinear position guide portion 23 of (1) described above, and the serration 14A of the steering column joint 14 is serrated and coupled to the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13. Insert the steering column joint 14.

  (3) When the lower end surface of the steering column joint 14 interferes with the upper end surface of the fitting portion 21 of the cap 20 and collides with each other, the fitting / removing means 24 (cut 25, flexible portion) is caused by the insertion force of the steering column joint 14. 26) works as described above, and the fitting portion 21 is separated from the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13. Thus, the serration 14A of the steering column joint 14 is completely connected to the lowermost portion of the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13.

  (4) The upper and lower serrations 13A and 13A of the steering shaft 13 are connected to the intermediate portions of the retaining bolts 27 that are inserted from one side of the slits constituting the straight alignment portion 14B of the steering column joint 14 and screwed to the other side. The steering column joint 14 is fastened to the steering shaft 13 in a state where the steering column joint 14 is prevented from coming off.

According to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(a) By simply interposing the cap 20 between the steering shaft 13 and the steering column joint 14, the linear movement position of the steering column joint 14 can be aligned with the linear movement position of the steering shaft 13, while simplifying the parts used. The positioning of the steering shaft 13 and the steering column joint 14 can be facilitated.

  (b) The cap 20 includes a fitting portion 21 that serration-couples to the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 on the lower end side, and an insertion portion 22 that is inserted into the protruding end portion of the steering shaft 13 on the upper end side. A rectilinear position guide portion 23 engaged with the rectilinear position aligning portion 14B of the column joint 14 is extended from the insertion portion 22 to the fitting portion 21. For this reason, the rectilinear position guide portion 23 is supported at both ends by the fitting portion 21 and the insertion portion 22, and the alignment accuracy of the steering column joint 14 with respect to the steering shaft 13 is good.

  (c) By inserting the insertion portion 22 of the cap 20 into the protruding end portion of the torsion bar 15 protruding from the end surface of the steering shaft 13, the insertion portion 22 of the cap 20 can be easily and reliably attached. Can be inserted.

Second Embodiment (FIGS. 5 and 6)
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in that the fitting / removing means 24 of the cap 20 is constituted by a cut 31 and a bent portion 32 as shown in FIGS.

  In the fitting / removing means 24, when the insertion force of the steering column joint 14 presses the fitting portion 21 downward, the slit-like cut 31 provided in a part in the circumferential direction of the fitting portion 21 is expanded. The fitting portion 21 is enlarged in diameter so that it can be detached from the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13. Then, when the fitting force of the steering column joint 14 presses the fitting portion 21 downward, the bent portion 32 provided at the base of the fitting portion 21 with respect to the rib-shaped guide portion 23 is bent and deformed, and the fitting portion The fitting portion 21 that allows the 21 to be detached from the serration 13A of the steering shaft 13 is displaced downward.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and there are design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. Is included in the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the power steering apparatus with a part thereof broken away. 2A and 2B show the cap of the first embodiment, where FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 2B is a front view, FIG. 2C is a plan view, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a fitting state of the cap to the steering shaft. 4A and 4B show a fitting state of the steering column joint to the steering shaft, where FIG. 4A is a side view and FIG. 4B is a plan view. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a fitting state of the cap of the second embodiment to the steering shaft. 6A and 6B show a fitting state of the steering column joint to the steering shaft, where FIG. 6A is a side view and FIG. 6B is a plan view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electric power steering apparatus 12 Steering gear housing 13 Steering shaft 13A Serration 14 Steering column joint 14A Serration 14B Straight alignment part 15 Torsion bar 20 Cap 21 Fitting part 21A Serration 22 Insertion part 23 Straight movement position guide part

Claims (1)

In the steering column joint mounting structure, in which the steering column joint is serrated to the steering shaft protruding from the steering gear housing,
Using a cap to align the mounting angle position of the steering column joint to the steering shaft,
The cap is provided with a ring-shaped fitting portion serrated to the serration of the steering shaft on the lower end side, the ring-shaped insertion portion inserted into the protruding end portion of the torsion bar protruding from the end surface of the steering shaft, and the steering A steering column joint mounting structure comprising: a linear position guide portion extending from the insertion portion to the fitting portion so that the linear position alignment portion of the column joint is engaged.

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