JPH0790780B2 - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel, and more particularly to a steering wheel having a relay mechanism including a contact plate and a contact pin that contacts the contact plate. .

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a relay mechanism for a signal line that connects a plurality of switches provided in a pad portion to an electric device on the vehicle body side is incorporated between the pad portion and the column portion. Various steering wheels have been proposed. Of these, for example, in a steering wheel with a non-rotating pad part, as shown in FIGS.
A plurality of holes 33 are provided in an annular shape on the boss plate 32 attached to the contact pin holder.
34 is fixed through. A pair of contact pins 35 are projected from both upper and lower ends (right and left in the drawing) of each contact pin holder 34, and these are urged in both up and down directions by a coil spring 36 interposed therebetween. The tip of each contact pin 35 is in contact with a contact plate 38 of an insulating substrate 37 arranged above and below the boss plate 32 in a conductive and slidable manner.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional steering wheel, the boss plate 32 has a large number of holes 33 for fixing the contact pin holder 34 therethrough, so that the strength of the boss plate 32 is reduced. Resulting in. Therefore, the boss plate 32 has to be thick in order to have sufficient strength, and as a result, there is a problem that the weight of the entire steering wheel increases. Also,
Since a large number of holes 33 must be formed in the boss plate 32, there is also a problem that the number of man-hours for manufacturing the steering wheel increases by the amount of the hole forming work.

An object of the present invention is to mount a relay mechanism on a boss plate without making a hole for mounting a contact pin on the boss plate, and to suppress an increase in weight due to a thick boss plate. To provide a possible steering wheel.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of insulating substrates provided with a contact plate, and a pair of contact pin cases provided with a contact pin that contacts the contact plate. And a pair of insulating substrates or a pair of contact pin cases are attached so as to be sandwiched by a boss plate attached to a steering shaft, and a connection is provided around the peripheral surface of the boss plate. The gist of the invention is a steering wheel in which a contact plate of the insulating substrate or a contact pin of a contact pin case is electrically connected by a member.

[Operation] On the boss plate, a pair of insulating substrates or a pair of contact pin cases are attached so as to sandwich the boss plate, and the contact plate or contact pin arranged on these is attached to the boss plate. Since they are electrically connected to each other by a connecting member that goes around the peripheral surface, means for electrically connecting the contact plates or contact pins to each other and a hole for penetrating this means are provided in the boss plate. It becomes unnecessary.

[Embodiment] An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a non-rotatable pad portion steering wheel will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, a boss plate 3 is fixed to a boss portion 2 fixed to the tip of a steering shaft 1, and a spoke 4 extending from the boss plate 3 supports a ring portion (not shown). A locking recess 3a is formed in a notch on one side of the boss plate 3 between the spokes 4.

The boss plate 3 is sandwiched by a pair of insulating substrates 5 from both upper and lower sides (left and right in FIG. 1). Each insulating substrate 5 is formed of a synthetic resin in a donut plate shape, and a plurality of substantially fan-shaped metal contact plates 6 are arranged in an annular shape on their surfaces in a state of being separated from each other. . The pair of insulating substrates 5 are connected by a tape electric wire 8 as a connecting member provided on one side thereof, and the insulating plates 5 face each other with the contact plate 6.
Is electrically connected to the contact plate 6. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the pair of insulating substrates 5 are attached to the boss portion 2
And the tape electric wire 8 is fitted along one side of the boss plate 3 to engage the boss plate 3 with the locking recess.
Each insulating substrate 5 is fixed by screws 7 in a state of being inserted into 3a.

As shown in FIG. 1, column-side and pad-side sun gears 9 and 10 are mounted on the upper and lower sides of the insulating substrate 5, and between the sun gears 9 and 10 and the boss plate 3 are combined. A pair of contact pin cases 11 and a pair of connection plates 12 made of resin are arranged.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a plurality of tubular portions 11a are projected from the surface of the contact pin case 11 on the boss plate 3 side, and each of the tubular portions 11a has a contact pin 13 made of hard metal. The proximal end of is inserted. The tip of the contact pin 13 projects from the cylindrical portion 11a and is in contact with the contact plate 6.

In addition, a plurality of conductive patterns 12a are provided on the surface of the connection plate 12 on the boss plate 3 side, and these are converged on one side of the connection plate 12 and arranged on the sun gear 9, 10 side of the connection plate 12. A pair of connectors 15 (first
(See the figure). These connectors
A terminal of a signal line (not shown) extending from the column portion and the pad portion can be connected to 15. Further, a conductive coil spring 14 is interposed between the connection plate 12 and the contact pin 13, and the contact pin 13 is biased toward the boss plate 3 side.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance B between the ends of the contact plates 6 adjacent to each other is smaller than the outer diameter A of the contact pin 13, and
The circumferential width D is set to be smaller than the interval C between the contact pins 1 adjacent to each other.

As shown in FIG. 1, on one side of the boss plate 3, a planetary gear unit 18 including planetary gears 16a, 16b and a bearing 17 for supporting them is mounted. Therefore, when the ring portion is rotated, the column-side sun gear 9 does not rotate, and the planetary gears 16a and 16b revolve around the periphery thereof while rotating. Then, the pad side sun gear 10 is the planetary gears 16a, 16
The non-rotating state of the column side sun gear 9 is followed via b to become the non-rotating state.

Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.

In the steering wheel of the present embodiment, the pair of insulating substrates 5 are attached to the boss plate 3 so as to be sandwiched therebetween, and the contact plates 6 disposed on both insulating substrates 5 can be energized by the tape electric wires 8. It is connected. Moreover, these contact plates 6 are provided on the upper and lower sides of the boss plate 3 respectively.
It is in contact with the tip. Therefore, unlike the conventional steering wheel, a large number of holes 33 for fixing the contact pin holder 34 therethrough in the boss plate 3 are not required. Therefore, the strength of the boss plate 3 does not decrease due to these holes 33, it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the boss plate 3, and it is possible to suppress an increase in the weight of the entire steering wheel. Moreover, the manufacturing process of the punching operation can be eliminated.

By the way, when the ring portion of the steering wheel configured as described above is rotated, the contact plates 6 of the pair of insulating substrates 5 attached so as to sandwich the boss plate 3 from above and below protruded from the contact pin case 11. It rotates while contacting the tip of the contact pin 13. At this time, the insulating substrate 5 is fixed to the boss plate 3 by the screw 7, the tape electric wire 8 is inserted into the locking recess 3a, and the contact pin 13 urges it toward the boss plate 3 side. The insulating substrate 5 does not move or leave the boss plate 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance B between the ends of the contact plates 6 adjacent to each other is equal to the outer diameter A of the contact pin 13.
Since the contact plate 6 is set to be smaller than the contact plate 6, when the contact plate 6 passes through the contact pin 13 in the process of rotating, the contact plate 6 is always adjacent to the contact plate 6.
Is in contact with the contact pin 13. Therefore, the contact plate 6 and the contact pin 13 are always kept in contact with each other, and a plurality of signal circuits are formed between the boss side and the pad side.

Further, since the tip of the contact pin 13 does not enter into the space between the ends of the contact plates 6 adjacent to each other, the contact plate 6 can be smoothly rotated, and abnormal noise is generated during the rotation. Only the side wall of the contact plate 6 is not worn.

Further, in this embodiment, since the width D of the contact plate 6 in the circumferential direction is set to be smaller than the interval C between the contact pins 13 adjacent to each other, one of the two contact pins 13 adjacent to each other is provided. Contact plate 6
Do not contact each other at the same time, and there is no short circuit between the signal circuits.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, but may be embodied by being arbitrarily modified within the scope of the gist of the invention as follows, for example.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the insulating substrate 5 and the contact pin case 11 may be arranged opposite to the boss plate 3. That is, the pair of contact pin cases 11 are attached to the boss plate 3 so as to be sandwiched between them, and both contact pin cases 11 are connected by the connecting member 8.
A pair of insulating substrates 5 are arranged on both upper and lower sides of the boss plate 3 so that the tips of the contact pins 13 protruding from the contact pin case 11 come into contact with the contact plates 6 of each insulating substrate 5. Also in this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment are obtained.

(2) As the connecting member, a lead wire, a flexible substrate or the like can be used in addition to the tape electric wire.

(3) As shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1, housing recesses 19 for locking the pair of insulating substrates 5 on the upper and lower surfaces of the boss plate 3 are formed.
May be formed.

(4) The present invention can also be embodied as a steering wheel of a type in which the boss portion and the boss plate are each formed of separate members, and the two are connected in a state in which a gap is formed therebetween. In this case, the connecting member is passed through the gap, the inner peripheral surface of the boss plate is swung around, and the pair of insulating substrates or the pair of contact pin cases are connected.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the relay mechanism can be assembled to the boss plate without forming a hole for attaching the contact pin to the boss plate. It has an excellent effect that it is possible to suppress an increase in weight due to thickening.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment embodying the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the steering wheel, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the contact pin holder and the connection plate, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of the boss plate with an insulating substrate attached,
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the contact plate in contact with the contact pin, FIGS. 5 and 6 show a conventional technique, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the steering wheel, and FIG. 6 is a contact pin on the contact plate. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which they are in contact with each other. 1 ... Steering shaft, 3 ... Boss plate, 5
...... Insulating substrate, 6 ...... Contact plate, 8 ...... Tape wire as connecting member, 11 ...... Contact pin case, 13 ...... Contact pin.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinori Takahashi 1 Ochiai, Nagachibata, Kasuga-mura, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Gosei Co., Ltd. (56) References: 61-67259 (JP, U) 62-141560 (JP, U) Actually opened 60-34048 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of insulating substrates (5) provided with contact plates (6), and a pair of contact pin cases (11) provided with contact pins (13) contacting the contact plates (6). And a pair of insulating boards (5) or a pair of contact pin cases (11) are attached to the boss plate (3) attached to the steering shaft (1) so as to be sandwiched therebetween. , The contact plate (6) of the insulating substrate (5) or the contact pin (13) of the contact pin case (11) is energizable by a connecting member (8) that extends around the peripheral surface of the boss plate (3). A steering wheel that is characterized.