Nsk Corporation

Yuuichi Tomaru

Shinji Okada

Naoki Sawada

Masaki Tomaru

Daiki Orihara

Noritomo Narita

Kouhei Yonezawa

Construction is achieved of a steering device that is capable of preventing impact going forward from being applied to a support bracket even when a steering wheel is vigorously displaced to a front-end position when adjusting the forward-backward position of the steering wheel. Part of the stopper memberis supported by a fastening member such as a housing. When an outer columnis displaced forward in a state in which the forward-backward position of the steering wheel can be adjusted, a portion that displaces forward together with the outer columnhits a pair of stopper surfacesof the stopper memberbefore an adjustment rod hits a pair of long telescopic-adjustment holes.

Steering device

The occurrence of a collision sound between a driven-side camand a long tilt holein which the driven-side camengages when tilting an adjustment leverfor adjusting the position of a steering wheel is prevented. Bracket-side inclined surface sectionsthat are inclined in directions outward in the width direction going away in the forward-backward direction from both side edges in the forward-backward direction of a long tilt holeare provided on both side edge sections in the forward-backward direction of the long tilt holein the outside surface of a support-plate section. Cam-side inclined surface sectionsthat are inclined in directions outward in the width direction going away in the forward-backward direction from an engaging convex sectionare provided in portions on both sides in the forward-backward direction of the engaging convex sectionon the inside surface of the driven-side cam

Steering wheel position-adjustment device

To provide a steering device that reduces a hitting sound occurring upon release of clamping by a clamp mechanism and has high operability. A steering device including a clamp mechanism including: a shaft rod bridged across a vehicle-body attachment bracket supporting a steering column; a fixed cam member and a movable cam member configured to cause mutually opposing cam protrusions to be engaged with each other, and axially move the shaft rod in cooperation with each other; and an operation lever for moving the movable cam member. A buffer member is provided between first stopper portions of the fixed cam member and second stopper portions of the movable cam member.

A supporting apparatus for a steering bracket includes a capsule support portion of a steering bracket supporting a steering column, a separation capsule to fix a vehicle body-side member to the steering bracket, a resin member, a shear pin, and an inertial action body including a weight portion moving to a front side of a vehicle by inertia due to a primary collision and pulling out the shear pin from a second bracket-side hole with the movement.

Steering-bracket supporting apparatus and steering apparatus

A steering device includes a steering column, a bracket, and a fixing mechanism. The fixing mechanism includes a roller clutch, an inner ring, a slip ring and a rod which penetrates through side plate portions of the bracket. The roller clutch and the inner ring are not operated in a clamping direction in which the manipulation lever is rotated to provide a clamping force and are operated in a releasing direction in which the manipulation lever is rotated to release the clamping force. The slip ring is a friction providing member which applies frictional resistance to the rod in a case where the roller clutch and the inner ring are operated.

A supporting apparatus for a steering bracket includes, a steering bracket supporting a steering column and including a first capsule-side hole and a second capsule-side hole, a separation capsule including a first bracket-side hole and a second bracket-side hole, a resin member straddling the first bracket-side hole and the first capsule-side hole, a shear pin straddling the second bracket-side hole and the second capsule-side hole, and a cam mechanism including a rotatable weight portion to pull out the shear pin from the second bracket-side hole, the weight portion constituted to rotate around the shear pin by inertia due to a primary collision and to move to a front of a vehicle, and the cam mechanism constituted to pull out the shear pin from the bracket-side hole by a rotation of the weight portion.

A steering apparatus includes an input shaft of which one end is connected to a steering wheel, and a steering column that rotatably supports the input shaft. The steering column includes a cylindrical outer column and a cylindrical inner column that is partially inserted into the outer column and guides the outer column in an axial direction. The inner column has a stopper, which regulates a movable range of the outer column in the axial direction, on an outer circumferential surface, and the stopper enlarges the movable range when deformation or movement thereof occurs due to inertial force.

Steering apparatus

A steering device is provided that includes an aluminum-alloy column bolted with a steering lock apparatus, that prevents destruction of a flange to be bolted, and that prevents the bolt from being loosened by applying shock to a bolt head section through the use of a special tool. A counterbore is formed so deep that a slant plane is higher than a top end of a disk-shaped member of a bolt. A thief can hardly apply shock to the disk-shaped member of the bolt using a special tool. It is difficult to rotate and loosen the bolt. A vehicle can be prevented from being stolen by removing a steering lock apparatus from an outer column.

A steering device facilitates assembly of a tilt lock mechanism, which elastically supports movement of a movable tilt lock gear to a stationary cam in a tilt direction via a spring. When a cylindrical part of a tilt stopper is inserted into a through hole, the cylindrical part enlarges in diameter, and surfaces of engagement projections engage with an end surface of an inclined cam surface side of the stationary cam. A right end surface of a tilt stopper flange part abuts against an end surface of the movable tilt lock gear. The movable tilt lock gear, a wire spring, and the stationary cam are integrated by the tilt stopper, and are prevented from being dispersed during transport. As a result, the assembly time can be reduced.

A steering device reduces a sliding sound and an impact sound between a movable tilt lock gear and an outer surface of a side plate of a vehicle body attachment bracket. When a movable tilt lock gear is rotated, and a thread of an inclined cam surface of a stationary cam runs on a thread of an inclined cam surface of a movable cam, a fastening rod is pulled toward a left side, and the movable tilt lock gear is pushed toward an outer surface of a left side plate. Because a first buffer member and a second buffer member are attached to the movable tilt lock gear, sliding surfaces of the first buffer member and a sliding surface of the second buffer member contact the outer surface of the left side plate, and slide, to suppress the sliding sound.

A steering device smoothly moves a variable tilt lock gear in a tilt direction, smoothly engages the movable tilt lock gear with a stationary tilt lock gear, and facilitates the assembling. When a movable tilt lock gear is not well engaged with a stationary tilt lock gear, and the respective threads of a gear of the movable tilt lock gear and a gear of the stationary tilt lock gear are abutted against each other, arm parts of a wire spring are elastically deformed by its reaction force. As a result, the movable tilt lock gear is slightly moved in the vertical direction of the vehicle body while the stationary cam is fixed, and the gear of the movable tilt lock gear and the gear of the stationary tilt lock gear are normally engaged with each other.

When a columnreaches a tilting ascent end, the lower endof a nutabuts on the buffering segmentof a buffer. Thus, while the buffering segmentof the bufferis elastically deformed, the nutstops with no impact. Accordingly, the inertia when the nutstops is restrained and the tightening torque of the nutwhen the nutstops is also restrained. For this reason, when an electric motoris rotationally driven in a reverse direction, a feeding screw shaftrotates in the reverse direction with the normal rotation torque of the electric motor. Thus, the nutis caused to ascend in the axial direction along the screw segment of the feeding screw shaftso that the columncan be tiltingly moved downward.

Growing community of inventors

Maebashi, Japan

Yuuichi Tomaru