JPH04731B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automobile steering wheel and a method for manufacturing the same.

Prior Art In the steering wheel of an automobile, conventionally, as shown in FIG.
A short circular arc sub-ring 2 is combined with the wheel ring 6 to form an annular wheel ring 6.The weak-strength sub-ring is placed near the driver to weaken the impact force in the event of an accident, and this wheel ring 6 is also attached to the steering shaft ( It is connected via spokes 4, 4 to a boss plate 3, which is connected to a boss plate (not shown). As shown in the figure, the main ring 1, sub-ring 2, and spokes 4, 4 are welded and connected by fitting each end 1a of the main ring 1 to the bent end 4a of each spoke 4, respectively, and connecting the sub-ring The ends 2a, 2a of the spokes 4, 4 are welded and connected to the bent parts 4b, 4b of the spokes 4, 4, and the other ends 4c,
4c is fixed to the boss plate 3 by welding. As described above, in the past, since each mounting portion was fixed by welding, it was easy to cause distortion due to the heat during welding, and the mounting accuracy was poor. In particular, the rings 1 and 2 and the spokes 4 and 4 are not on the same plane, and the spokes 4 and 4 are connected at an angle to the rings 1 and 2, so the amount of distortion tends to increase and the reliability of the installation strength is low. I had a problem.

Purpose of the Invention The first purpose of the invention is to eliminate the welding process at all or to perform it only at one location in the installation work of each spoke and wheel ring, to reduce distortion due to welding heat, and to improve installation accuracy. The object of the present invention is to provide an automobile steering wheel that can improve the reliability of the mounting strength.

A second object of the invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a wheel ring with little or no welding, which reduces distortion due to welding heat, and which is highly accurate and highly reliable in its strength. There is a particular thing.

Structure, operation, and effect of the invention In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is configured such that a curved part that holds a wheel ring is formed in the spoke part, and the wheel ring is fixed to the curved part. did.

In other words, each spoke has a substantially ring-shaped curved portion at its end for holding and fixing the steering wheel ring.

According to the above configuration, by fitting the wheel ring to the curved part of the spoke part, positioning it, and then fixing it, it is possible to completely eliminate welding fixing points in the installation work between the spoke part and the wheel ring, even if it is for safety reasons. Therefore, even if additional welding fixation is performed, it is only required at one location, which is extremely small, and there is almost no distortion caused by welding heat.
The positional relationship between each component can be maintained with high precision,
Reliability can be improved by increasing the attachment strength between each member. In other words, in the past, when attaching spokes and wheel rings, the main ring and sub-ring that make up the wheel ring were welded and fixed to the ends and bends of the spokes, respectively, which caused distortion due to the heat of welding. It was difficult to perform the installation work accurately. On the other hand, in the first invention, the above disadvantages can be eliminated as described above.

Furthermore, by forming a curved part in the spoke part, the wheel ring can be annular, eliminating the need to divide the wheel ring into a main ring and a sub-ring, and making it easier to position the wheel ring with respect to the curved part. It is easy to perform, and the number of parts and installation work can be reduced. In other words, in the past, the spokes were simply bent at the ends without forming curved parts, so in order to ensure the attachment of this bent part to the wheel ring, the main ring Therefore, it had no choice but to be divided into sub-rings.
In addition, as another conventional example, a T-shaped tube is used when attaching spokes to an annular wheel ring, but the first invention eliminates the need for a T-shaped tube, reducing the number of parts and simplifying the installation work. This can be reduced.

Furthermore, there are fewer restrictions on the mutual arrangement of the members than when they are attached by welding, and they can be freely designed.

Therefore, as mentioned above, the initial objective can be achieved.

In order to achieve the above object, the second invention integrally plastically processes a steering wheel mounting member consisting of spokes, bosses, and boss plates as one component, and easily attaches the mounting member to a wheel ring to attach the steering wheel. Configured so that it can be manufactured. That is, from a rod-shaped workpiece, a boss portion having a through hole that fits into the steering shaft, a boss plate portion that protrudes from the boss portion, and a pair that protrudes from the boss plate portion and connects the tip portion to the steering wheel ring. a step of integrally configuring the spoke portions as one part by plastic working; a step of forming a J-curved portion at the end of each of the spoke portions by crushing and bending; The steering wheel ring is fitted into the steering wheel ring, and each curved portion is bent to hold and fix the steering wheel ring to each curved portion. The steps are sequentially performed.

According to the above configuration, the wheel mounting member consisting of a pair of spoke parts each having a boss part, a boss plate part, and a curved part capable of holding a wheel ring is manufactured integrally by plastic working, and the spoke parts are integrally manufactured by plastic working. Since the wheel ring is fitted and bent on the curved part to be held and fixed, no welding process is performed at all, or even if it is performed, it is only performed at one place, which is extremely small, thereby reducing the risk of welding heat. Distortion is almost eliminated, making it possible to improve mounting accuracy and mounting strength.Furthermore, the arrangement relationship between each component can be freely designed, making it possible to mass produce steering wheels with uniformity, and automation is easy. can be done. In other words, in the past, when attaching each spoke part to a wheel ring, the main ring and sub-ring that make up the wheel ring were welded and fixed to the ends and bent parts of each spoke part, respectively, which caused distortion due to the heat of welding. However, it was difficult to perform the installation work accurately.

Furthermore, in the past, the boss, boss plate, and pair of spokes were manufactured separately and attached to each other by welding, so the heat of welding each component may distort the shape of the boss's mounting hole, for example. Therefore, it was difficult to perform the installation work with high precision. In contrast, in the second invention, each spoke part is held and fixed to the wheel ring by bending, and the boss part, boss plate part, and spoke part are formed integrally and as one part, so that these The negative effects can be completely eliminated.

Furthermore, by forming a curved part in the spoke part, the wheel ring can be annular, eliminating the need to divide the wheel ring into a main ring and a sub-ring, and making it possible to fit the wheel ring into the curved part. It can be easily and reliably positioned and held by simply doing the following, and since the boss part, boss plate part, and pair of spoke parts are integrally formed, the number of parts can be reduced and the installation work can be reduced. At the same time, it is possible to reduce costs. In other words, while conventionally the boss, boss plate, and pair of spokes were composed of four members, each spoke was simply bent at its end without forming a curved part. In order to securely attach the wheel ring to the curved part, it was necessary to divide the wheel ring into a main ring and a sub-ring, so a total of six parts were required. In contrast, in the second invention, the wheel can be manufactured from two parts: the wheel mounting member and the wheel ring.

Therefore, as described above, the present invention can achieve the intended purpose.

Embodiments The present invention will be specifically described below based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a steering wheel manufactured by the manufacturing method according to this embodiment. This steering wheel is constructed by attaching a steering wheel attachment member 11 to a wheel ring 25.

The steering wheel mounting member 11 is made of, for example, a plastically worked product made of iron, and extends from the boss portion 13 to integrally form a boss plate portion 14, while a pair of steering wheel mounting members 11 rises at a certain angle from both ends of the upper surface and is spaced apart from each other by a certain angle. The spoke parts 12, 12 are integrally formed.

The boss portion 13 is a thick-walled cylindrical body that passes through the central portion of the boss plate portion 14 and has a through hole 15 at the center thereof, and has a serration 19 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 15.

The boss plate portion 14 is shaped like a flat plate, and a resin plate 21 is attached to the lower part of the boss plate portion 14 while passing through mounting holes 16, 16 around the boss portion. The part 14 is integrally molded with resin to form a plate-like part, and a horn cover etc. are attached to the boss plate part 14.
Attach it to the top of the Therefore, the connecting portion at the upper end of the steering shaft (not shown) is fitted into the through hole 15 and the serrations 19, and the screws are fitted into the through holes 16, 16 to connect the boss plate portion 14 to the upper end of the steering shaft. By connecting and fixing the shaft to the wheel mounting member 11, the shaft and the wheel mounting member 11 rotate integrally.

Further, the spoke portions 12, 12 are each made of a round bar, and are formed to stand obliquely upward from the boss plate portion 14 at a certain angle in plane symmetry with respect to a plane that bisects the boss plate portion 14. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each end portion 12a is formed with a J-shaped curved portion 12c, and the steering wheel ring 25 is attached to the curved portion 12c in its inner recess 12b.
The end portion 12d of the curved portion 12c is bent toward the boss plate portion 14 and caulked, and the ring 25 is fitted onto the curved portion 12c for positioning.
Hold and fix the object.

The above-mentioned steering wheel is manufactured by plastic working as shown in FIG.

That is, in the first step, a round bar-shaped workpiece 17 made of iron or the like corresponding to the spoke shape shown in FIG. 2a is cut into a predetermined size.

Next, in the second step, the substantially central portion of the rod-shaped workpiece 17 in the axial direction is heated, for example, by a high-frequency heating device or the like.
Locally heats to over 800℃. The subsequent steps are
This is done using this residual heat.

Next, in the third step, as shown in FIG. 2b, the workpiece 17 is compressed along the axial direction to form a spherical thick walled part 18 approximately at the center of the heated workpiece 17. Carry out sawing casting.

Next, in the fourth step, as shown in FIG. 2c, the workpiece 17 is placed in the vicinity of the thick part 18 in a plane symmetrical manner with respect to the plane that bisects the thick part 18, and so that a predetermined angle is opened between the two parts. The spoke parts 12, 12 are formed by bending them into a dogleg shape.

Next, in the fifth step, as shown in FIGS. 2 d and 3 a, the thick portion 18 heated to about 700° C. is formed in the cylindrical boss portion 13 by shape forging, and a small recess 20 for forming a through hole is formed. , 20 are formed at the center of the upper surface and the center of the lower surface of the boss portion 13, respectively, and the boss plate portion 14 is die-forged into a flat shape around the boss portion 13.

Next, in the sixth step, as shown in FIG. 2e and FIG. 3b, the boss plate portion 14 and the boss portion 13 are
After the temperature drops to about 300 to 400°C and passes through a brittle region of 600°C to remove the distortion caused by the forging, the boss part 13 is extruded downward to the boss plate part 14 to form the boss part 13. The small recess 2 formed on the lower surface of the boss portion 13
0 is recessed upward in the axial direction. On the other hand, the spoke portion 12 is formed by bending the connection portion between each spoke portion 12 and the boss plate portion 14 one step so that the spoke portions 12, 12 are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the boss plate portion 14. .

Next, in the seventh step, as shown in FIG. 2 f and FIG. While forming serrations 19 on the inner peripheral surface by press working,
A mounting hole 16 is provided through the boss plate portion 14.

Next, in the eighth step, as shown in FIGS. 4a, b and 5, the ends 12a of each spoke part 12 are crushed and bent using a press to form a thin J-shaped curved part 12c. do. By performing the above steps sequentially, the steering wheel mounting member 11
can be manufactured.

Next, in the ninth step, as shown in FIG. 4c, the inner recess 1 of the curved portion 12c of the spoke portion 12 is
A steering wheel ring 25 is fitted onto 2b to position and hold it.

Next, in the 10th step, as shown in FIG. 4d,
The end portion 12d of the curved portion 12c is bent toward the wheel ring 25 side using a press and caulked to fix the wheel ring 25 to the curved portion 12c.

In this way, both the spoke parts 12a, 12 of the wheel mounting member 11, which consists of the boss part 13, the boss plate part 14, and the pair of spoke parts 12, 12,
A steering wheel can be manufactured by fixing a to the steering wheel ring 25.

According to the steering wheel according to the above embodiment, each spoke end 12a is connected to the wheel ring 2.
5 is fixed by caulking by bending, welding work is not required, distortion caused by heat during welding work is eliminated, and mounting accuracy is improved. Furthermore, when attaching the spoke portions 12 and the wheel ring 25, no other attachment member such as a T-shaped tube is required, and the wheel ring 25 can also be annular, so the number of parts can be reduced. It is possible to reduce costs.

Further, since the wheel ring 25 is fitted and positioned on the curved portion 12c of the spoke portion and then fixed by caulking, the installation work can be carried out more uniformly and reliably.

Moreover, after fitting the steering wheel ring 25 to the curved part 12c of the end 12a of each spoke part 12 and positioning it, the end part 12a of each spoke part 12 can be attached to the wheel ring by simply bending and caulking. 25 can be fixed easily and reliably, so wheel manufacturing can be easily automated.

Further, since there is no need to attach the boss portion 13, the host plate portion 14, and the pair of spoke portions 12, 12, there is no attachment error, and the reporting relationship between the various members can be maintained with high precision.
Since it is made into one part by plastic working, it is also possible to improve the reliability of the strength between each member. Therefore, for example, in the past, the attachment strength between the boss plate and the spokes was unreliable, so it was necessary to make the boss plate larger, and a horn cover, etc., was attached to the boss plate. According to the embodiment, since the boss plate portion 14 and the spoke portions 12 can be integrally formed by plastic working, the boss plate portion 14 can be made smaller and the plate 21 to which the horn cover etc. is attached can be made smaller.
can be made of resin, making it possible to reduce the overall weight.

Furthermore, there are fewer restrictions on the mutual arrangement of the members than when they are attached by welding, and they can be freely designed.

On the other hand, according to the wheel manufacturing method according to the above embodiment, the wheel mounting member 11 is integrally manufactured by plastic working, and the wheel ring 25
After fitting into the curved part 12c of each spoke part 12 and positioning, it is held and fixed by bending and caulking, eliminating the welding process, so there is no distortion due to welding heat, and the With precision,
Furthermore, since the number of parts is small, the installation work can be reduced, and the steering wheel can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively, and it can be easily automated.

In addition, first, the substantially central part of the rod-shaped workpiece 17 is locally heated to a high temperature, and thereafter hot and warm forging are sequentially performed using the high heat without heating again. Distortion during forging can be removed as the temperature drops, and the wheel mounting member 17 can be manufactured with the boss portion 13, boss plate portion 14, and spoke portions 12, 12 maintaining the mutual arrangement relationship with high precision. At the same time, the number of parts is reduced by making it a single part, and the work of attaching each member is unnecessary, thereby eliminating errors in attachment.

Note that the first and second inventions described above are not limited to each embodiment, and can be implemented in various other forms.

For example, in the wheel and wheel manufacturing method described above, when the wheel ring 25 is held and fixed to the curved portion 12c of each spoke portion 12, the ring 25 and the curved portion 1 are originally crimped together.
2c, but from a safety standpoint, between the end 12d of the curved portion 12c and the spoke portion 12, the 26
As shown in , welding may be performed to weld the curved portion 12c and the spoke portion 12, and the attachment state of the curved portion 12c to the wheel ring 25 may be made stronger by heat shrinkage after welding. In addition, in the above wheel manufacturing method, instead of sawing and forging the spherical thick-walled part 18 approximately at the center of the rod-shaped workpiece 17, as shown in FIG. The thick portion 22 may have a diamond-shaped cross section. This thick wall portion 22 is forged in the same manner as in the above embodiment, but since the thick wall portion 22 is thicker than the spherical thick wall portion 18 of the above embodiment, the boss plate portion 24 is formed wide. can do. Further, in FIG. 2c according to the above embodiment, the thick portion 18 may be flattened into a substantially rectangular plate shape, and the boss plate portion may be formed wide as in the above modification.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS.
A manufacturing process explanatory diagram showing a method for manufacturing a wheel according to an embodiment of the invention, FIGS. 3a, b, and c are half cross-sectional views in FIGS. 2d, e, and f, respectively, and FIGS. Fig. 4b-1 is a plan view of the curved part; Fig. 4b-1 is a plan view of the curved part;
-2 is the front view of Figure 4 b-1, Figure 5 is Figure 4 b
FIGS. 6a to 6f are perspective views of the curved portion shown in FIGS. 6A to 6F, and FIGS.
Figures a, b, and c are half-sectional side views in Figures 6 d, e, and f, respectively, and Figure 8 is a front view of the conventional wheel. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Wheel mounting member, 12... Spoke part, 12c... Curved part, 13... Boss part, 1
4, 24...Boss plate portion, 17...Work material, 25...Wheel ring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A boss portion connected to a steering shaft;
A steering wheel for an automobile comprising a boss plate portion projecting from the boss portion, and spoke portions projecting from the boss plate portion and having their tips connected to a steering wheel ring, and a steering wheel is provided at the end of each spoke portion. A steering wheel for an automobile, characterized in that it has a generally ring-shaped curved portion for holding and fixing a wheel ring. 2. A boss part having a through hole that fits into the steering shaft, a boss plate part that protrudes from the boss part, and a pair of boss parts that protrude from the boss plate part and connect the tip part to the steering wheel ring are formed from a rod-shaped workpiece. a step of integrally configuring the spoke portions as one component by plastic working; a step of forming a J-shaped curved portion at the end of each of the spoke portions by crushing and bending; a step of forming the curved portion of each of the spoke portions Manufacturing a steering wheel for an automobile, which sequentially performs the following steps: fitting a steering wheel ring; and bending each of the curved portions to hold and fix the steering wheel ring to each of the curved portions. Method.