Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Yasuaki Kurokawa

Shinya Morinaga

Takeshi Marutani

Soichiro Iwanaga

A steering apparatus for a vehicle capable of adjusting an operating position of a steering wheel with respect to a vehicle body, includes: a steering column supporting the steering wheel at a rear end, arranging a center of oscillation with respect to the vehicle body in front thereof, and supporting the steering wheel so as to oscillate around the center of oscillation; a fixing bracket holding the steering column between opposing holding sections extending to a lower part and fixing an upper part to the vehicle body; and a support mechanism interposed between the holding sections and the steering column and supporting the steering column to in a manner that the steering column is slidable, wherein the support mechanism includes a spring member interposed between one of the holding sections and the steering column and a rigid body interposed between the other of the holding sections and the steering column.

Vehicle steering apparatus

A steering apparatus is provided for reducing its size by reducing a load applied to a driving unit, and configuring an electrically operated tilt mechanism which is small in size and easily mounted on a vehicle. A driving unit adjusting a relative position of a steering column to a fixing bracket, and a biasing member (e.g., tension coil spring) having one end supported on the fixing bracket, and holding the steering column at a predetermined neutral position when the driving unit is not actuated, are provided, so that the driving unit adjusts the steering column to be placed at a tilt position with a desired tilt angle relative to the fixing bracket.

Steering apparatus for a vehicle

A steering apparatus is capable of configuring an electrically operated tilt mechanism, which is interchangeable with a manually operated tilt mechanism, and which is small in size and easily mounted on a vehicle. A tilt bracket holding a steering column and supported on the fixing bracket to be relatively movable thereto, and a tilt shaft extending in a lateral direction of the vehicle body and supported on the fixing bracket to be relatively movable thereto in an axial direction of the steering column are provided. By way of a driving unit, the tilt bracket is rotated about the tilt shaft axis to adjust a relative position of the tilt shaft to the fixing bracket. Furthermore, a tilt slider is disposed between an elongated hole on the fixing bracket and the tilt shaft, and a biasing member biasing the tilt slider in the axial direction of the tilt shaft.

A steering apparatus for a vehicle, includes: a steering column; a single electric motor being selectively connected to a telescopic mechanism or a tilt mechanism; a steering wheel; a drive mechanism transmitting an output torque of the electric motor to a telescopic threaded shaft and a tilt threaded shaft; and a connecting-disconnecting mechanism having a first clutch mechanism connecting and disconnecting the drive mechanism to and from the tilt threaded shaft and a second clutch mechanism connecting and disconnecting the drive mechanism to and from the telescopic threaded shaft, the connecting-disconnecting mechanism bringing one of the first clutch mechanism and the second clutch mechanism in a connected state to the drive mechanism and bringing the other of the first clutch mechanism and the second clutch mechanism in a disconnected state from the drive mechanism, wherein the drive mechanism and the connecting-disconnecting mechanism constitute a single power connecting-disconnecting unit.

Growing community of inventors

Kariya, Japan

Yasuaki Kurokawa