JP2003026001A - Air bag system mounting structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the assemblability of an air bag system mounting structure and simplify the structure. SOLUTION: A horn plate 36 arranged on an air bag system 28 side is engaged with a bridge 24 formed on a core metal unit 12 of a steering wheel 10. A cross sectional shape of a clamp part 36A of the horn plate 36 is a U- shape having an opening part 38 on a bridge 24 side, and engaging claws 36B, 36C are formed in the opening part 38. Cross sectional shapes of intermediate parts 24D, 24E in the bridge 24 become wider when facing the direction of engagement. When attaching the horn plate 36 to the bridge 24, the horn plate 36 is pressed in the direction of engagement so as to bring the engaging claws 36B, 36C into contact with the intermediate parts 24D, 24E of the bridge 24 and deform them elastically so that they come to engaging positions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an airbag device mounting structure, and more particularly to an airbag device mounting structure for mounting an airbag device on a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an airbag device mounting structure for mounting an airbag device on a vehicle such as an automobile,
An example thereof is shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-30355.

As shown in FIG. 10, according to this air bag device mounting structure, a horn plate 102 on the air bag device (air bag module) 100 side is a support element arranged on a core metal 106 of a steering wheel 104. It is attached to 108. In addition, the airbag device 10
0 is positioned facing the support element 108, then moved in the direction of arrow S in FIG.
The fixing device 100A on the 0 side is attached to the steering wheel 104.
It can be easily attached to the steering wheel 104 by being pushed into the side support element 104A.

[0004]

However, in this air bag device mounting structure, the fixing tool 100A disposed on the air bag device 100 side has the expansion head 11 at one end.
0A and a bolt 110 having a small-diameter elongated shaft portion 110B with a thread are provided, and the structure is complicated and therefore expensive.

In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain an air bag device mounting structure which is easy to assemble and has a simple structure.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an airbag device mounting portion which is disposed on an airbag device mounting member side for mounting an airbag device, and the airbag device mounting portion. Engaging means that engages with the airbag device attaching portion, and the cross-sectional shape of the airbag device attaching portion is wide in the engaging direction. It is characterized in that, when pressed, the engaging means comes into contact with the airbag device mounting portion and elastically deforms to reach the engaging position.

Therefore, when the air bag device is attached to the air bag device mounting member, the engagement means disposed on the air bag device side is pushed in the engagement direction so that the air bag device is attached by the engagement means. The engaging position is easily reached by abutting the portion and elastically deforming. In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the airbag device mounting portion is widened toward the engaging direction,
Since the engaging means is in contact with the airbag device mounting portion and elastically deforms, the structure is simple and inexpensive.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the airbag device mounting structure according to the first aspect, the airbag device mounting portion is a bridge formed on a core metal of a steering wheel, and the engaging means is a horn. It is characterized in that it is a clamp portion formed on the plate.

Therefore, when the airbag device is mounted on the bridge formed on the core metal of the steering wheel,
By pressing the clamp portion formed on the horn plate arranged on the side of the airbag device in the engaging direction, the clamp portion comes into contact with the bridge and elastically deforms to easily reach the engaging position. Further, since the cross-sectional shape of the bridge is widened in the engaging direction and the clamp portion is in contact with the bridge and elastically deforms, the structure is simple and inexpensive.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an air bag device mounting structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the steering wheel 1 as an air bag device mounting member is used.
The 0 core metal 12 has a so-called 3-core structure (4-core structure in the configuration of FIG. 9), and two steering wheel spokes (hereinafter, referred to as spokes) 1 arranged on the straight line S1.
Reference numerals 4 and 16 and steering wheel spokes (hereinafter referred to as spokes) 18 arranged on a straight line S2 orthogonal to the straight line S1. Each spoke 14, 16, 18
A tip end of the steering wheel is connected to a steering wheel portion 20, and a steering wheel boss (hereinafter referred to as a boss) 22 to which a steering shaft is connected is formed in a central portion of the cored bar 12.

Root portion 14 of each spoke 14, 16, 18
A bridge 24 as an air bag device mounting portion is erected on A, 16A, and 18A, and the shape of the bridge 24 seen from the direction of the axis L of the steering shaft is substantially U-shaped. Further, the connecting portions 24A, 24B, 24C of the bridge 24 with the respective spokes 14, 16, 18
Is extended in the direction of the axis L of the steering shaft, and is connected to each of the connecting portions 24A, 24B, 2 of the bridge 24.
A gap 26 is formed between the intermediate portions 24D and 24E that are located between 4C and the general surface 12A of the cored bar 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, a gap 26 is formed between the intermediate portion 24E of the bridge 24 and the general surface 12A of the cored bar 12.
A lever-type cruise control switch 30 is provided in the cruise control switch 30.
Are fixed to the cored bar 12 by fixing means (not shown). Further, the operation knob 30A of the cruise control switch 30 is inserted through a through hole 34 formed in the steering lower cover 32 arranged on the back side of the core metal 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bridge 24 includes:
The horn plate 36 disposed on the side of the airbag device 28 is engaged. There are a pair of left and right horn plates 36, and a middle portion in the length direction of each horn plate 36 serves as a clamp portion 36A as an engaging means. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the clamp portion 36A of the horn plate 36 is a U-shape having an opening 38 on the bridge 24 side, and the engaging claws 36B and 36C are provided in the opening 38 toward the inside of the opening. Has been formed.

On the other hand, the intermediate portion 24 of the bridge 24
The cross-sectional shapes of D and 24E are in the engaging direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1).
The width becomes wider toward the front side and has a semicircular shape in the present embodiment. Therefore, when the horn plate 36 is attached to the bridge 24, the engaging claw 36 is pushed by pushing the horn plate 36 in the engaging direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1).
B and 36C are intermediate portions 24D and 24 of the bridge 24.
By abutting on E, it is pushed open in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 due to elastic deformation. Further, by further pushing the horn plate 36 in the engaging direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), the engaging claws 36B and 36C are brought into the engaging position (position in FIG. 1) with respect to the bridge 24.

As shown in FIG. 4, the left and right horn plates 36 have mounting portions 40A, 40B, 40C and 40D formed at the four corners of the substrate 40 to which the airbag device 28 is fixed.
Among them, it is installed between the mounting portion 40A and the mounting portion 40B on the left side of the drawing, and between the mounting portion 40C and the mounting portion 40D on the right side of the drawing, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting portion 4 of the substrate 40
0C is attached to the end portion of the horn plate 36 with a screw 41, and is attached to the attachment portion 40C and the horn plate 36.
A coil spring 43 is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the screw 41 between the and. Also, the mounting portion 40C of the substrate 40
A pair of contacts 45 are fixed between the horn plate 36 and the horn plate 36. Therefore, the substrate 40 is replaced by the coil spring 43.
When the horn plate 36 is moved in the direction of the urging force of the horn, the pair of contact points 45 come into contact with each other and the horn sounds. Note that the other mounting portions 40A, 40B, 4
0D has the same configuration.

As shown in FIG. 4, the air bag device 28.
Is a well-known configuration, and the air bag body 44 stored in the folded state is inflated by the gas ejected from the inflator 42 disposed in the central portion of the substrate 40, and is disposed on the occupant side of the substrate 40. The airbag door formed on the upper cover 46 is opened to inflate and deploy in the vehicle compartment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the horn plate 36
In the central portion of the clamp portion 36A in the longitudinal direction, the jig hook portion 3 is used instead of the engaging claws 36B and 36C.
6D and 36E are formed in parallel. The jig hook portions 36D and 36E are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the clamp portion 36A (see FIG. 5).
Are offset from each other along the arrow K direction), and a guide hole 46 is formed in one jig hooking portion 36D.

As shown in FIG. 1, the jig hooking portion 36
In the portion of the steering lower cover 32 facing E,
A work hole 48 is formed, and when the clamp portion 36A of the horn plate 36 is removed from the bridge 24, the airbag device removing jig 5 shown in FIG.
It is designed to insert 0.

As shown in FIG. 6, the airbag device removing jig 50 has a shaft 5 having a handle 52 fixed to one end thereof.
4, a pin 56 is inserted into the tip end portion 54A of the shaft 54 in the radial direction of the shaft 54. Further, an outer cylinder 58 is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the shaft 54 so as to be rotatable with respect to the shaft 54 in the direction of arrow N in FIG. 6 and movable in the axial direction of the shaft 54 (direction of arrow L in FIG. 6). Has been done. The pin 56 is
The outer cylinder 58 is prevented from coming off the shaft 54.

A grip portion 58A extending in the radial direction of the outer cylinder 58 is formed at an end portion of the outer cylinder 58 on the handle 52 side, and an outer cylinder 58 is provided at an end portion of the outer cylinder 58 on the pin 56 side. An engaging portion 58B extending along the radial direction of 58 is formed. The gripping portion 58A has a longitudinal center portion connected to the outer cylinder 58, and the engaging portion 58B has one longitudinal end portion connected to the outer cylinder 58.

Next, a method of using the air bag device removing jig 50 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, the horn plate 36
When removing the clamp portion 36A of the from the bridge 24,
The tip portion 5 of the shaft 54 in the air bag device removing jig 50
4A is inserted into the guide hole 46 of the jig hooking portion 36D in the clamp portion 36A of the horn plate 36. At this time, the pin 56 is connected to the guide hole 4 of the jig hooking portion 36D.
It contacts the outer peripheral portion of 6.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the outer cylinder 58 is rotated with respect to the shaft 54 in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
Jig hooking portion 36D and jig hooking portion 36E
Insert between and.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the handle 52 and the grip portion 58A are simultaneously gripped, and the outer cylinder 58 is moved with respect to the shaft 54 in the direction of arrow D in FIG. As a result, the pin 56 of the shaft 54 and the engaging portion 58B of the outer cylinder 58 are separated from each other, so that the jig hooking portion 36D and the jig hooking portion 36E of the clamp portion 36A of the horn plate 36 are separated from each other. To move to the engaging claws 36B, 36
The engagement state between C and the bridge 24 can be released.

Therefore, in this state (state of FIG. 8), the horn plate 36 is separated from the bridge 24 (see FIG. 8).
Horn plate 36 by moving in the direction of arrow E).
The clamp portion 36A can be easily removed from the bridge 24.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, the steering wheel 1
When the airbag device 28 is attached to the bridge 24 formed on the core metal 12 of 0, the clamp portion 36A formed on the horn plate 36 disposed on the airbag device 28 side.
By pushing in the engaging direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), the engaging claws 36B and 36C move the intermediate portion 24 of the bridge 24.
By abutting against D and 24E, the elastic claw pushes and opens in the direction of arrow B in FIG.
36C easily reaches the engagement position (position in FIG. 1).

The intermediate portion 24 of the bridge 24
The sectional shapes of D and 24E are made wider toward the engaging direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), and the engaging claws 36B and 36C of the clamp portion 36A are in contact with the bridge 24 and elastically deform. The structure is simple and inexpensive.

Further, in this embodiment, the bridge 24 formed on the core metal 12 of the steering wheel 10 at the time of assembly.
When the engaging claws 36B and 36C of the horn plate 36 are not securely engaged with each other, the engaging claws 36B and 36C of the horn plate 36 contact the arc-shaped outer peripheral portion of the bridge 24, and the airbag device 28 Is floating with respect to the regular mounting position. Therefore, it is possible to easily confirm whether or not the engaging claws 36B and 36C of the horn plate 36 are securely engaged with the bridge 24 formed on the core metal 12 of the steering wheel 10.

Further, in the present embodiment, the air bag device 28 can be kept away from the core metal 12 of the steering wheel 10 by the bridge 24 formed on the core metal 12 of the steering wheel 10. Need not be changed to a shape that does not interfere with the cruise control switch 30.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the steering wheel 10 has a so-called three-core structure as the core metal 12, but the steering wheel 10 has a core metal 12 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, it may have a so-called four-core structure. Also, in this case,
Between the intermediate portion 60A of the spoke 60 and the intermediate portion 62A of the spoke 62 of the four spokes 60, 62, 64, 66, and between the intermediate portion 64A of the spoke 64 and the spoke 66.
Between the intermediate portion 66A of the bridge 24 and the bridge 24 having a dogleg shape when viewed from the direction of the axis L of the steering shaft.
Are installed respectively.

Further, in the present embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the intermediate portions 24D and 24E of the bridge 24 is changed to the engaging direction (see FIG. 1).
The semicircular shape is widened in the direction of arrow A), but instead of this, the intermediate portion 24 of the bridge 24 is formed.
Set the cross-sectional shape of D and 24E to the engaging direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1).
Other cross-sectional shapes such as a trapezoid and a triangle that are widened toward the front may be used.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various other embodiments within the scope of the present invention. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the airbag device 28 is attached to the steering wheel 10 as the airbag device mounting member has been described, but the airbag device mounting structure of the present invention is the steering wheel 10.
It is also applicable to an airbag device mounting structure for mounting an airbag device to a portion other than the vehicle interior.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the air bag device mounting portion disposed on the side of the air bag device mounting member for mounting the air bag device and the air bag device mounting portion disposed on the air bag device side. And a cross-sectional shape of the air bag device mounting portion is wider in the engaging direction, and the engaging means is pressed in the engaging direction to obtain the engaging means. Comes into contact with the airbag device mounting portion and elastically deforms to reach the engagement position, so that the assembling property is good,
Moreover, it has an excellent effect that the structure is simple.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the airbag device mounting structure according to the first aspect, the airbag device mounting portion is a bridge formed on a core metal of a steering wheel, and the engaging means is a horn plate. Since it is the formed clamp part, it has an excellent effect that it is easy to assemble and the structure is simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an airbag device mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an airbag device mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an airbag device mounting member in the airbag device mounting structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an airbag device in an airbag device mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a detaching operation in the airbag device mounting structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a removal jig in the airbag device mounting structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a detaching work in the airbag device mounting structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a detaching work in the airbag device mounting structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an airbag device mounting member in an airbag device mounting structure according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing an air bag device mounting structure according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 steering wheel 12 core metal 14 steering wheel spokes 16 steering wheel spokes 18 steering wheel spokes 20 Steering wheel section 24 Bridge (Airbag device mounting part) 28 Airbag device 36 horn plate 36A Clamp part of horn plate (engagement means) 60 steering wheel spokes 62 steering wheel spokes 64 steering wheel spokes 66 steering wheel spokes

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kunihito Saito             260-chome, Toyota, Oguchi-cho, Niwa-gun, Aichi             Tokai Rika Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3D030 DB36 DB48                 3D054 AA02 AA13 AA26 BB06 FF17

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An airbag device mounting portion disposed on an airbag device mounting member side for mounting an airbag device, and an engagement means disposed on the airbag device side and engaged with the airbag device mounting portion. The cross-sectional shape of the airbag device mounting portion is wide in the engaging direction, and the engaging means is pressed in the engaging direction so that the engaging means can An airbag device mounting structure, wherein the airbag device mounting structure is characterized in that it reaches the engagement position by abutting on the device mounting portion and elastically deforming. 2. The air bag according to claim 1, wherein the air bag device mounting portion is a bridge formed on a core metal of a steering wheel, and the engaging means is a clamp portion formed on a horn plate. Bag device mounting structure.