JP4972378B2 - Steering column device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a steering column device that avoids a half-lock state when a telescopic operation is performed and a lock bolt is tightened.

  A steering column device that steers a vehicle is provided with a steering column device that adjusts the position of the steering wheel in the axial direction so that the steering wheel operated by an occupant is disposed at an appropriate position.

  As a conventional steering column device, for example, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known. The steering column device has a lower jacket that rotatably supports the lower shaft and an upper jacket that rotatably supports the upper shaft so as to be relatively slidable in the axial direction, and the lower shaft and the upper shaft are spline-coupled. The distance bracket integrated with the upper jacket is sandwiched between the pair of side brackets on the left and right sides, and the pair of side brackets are connected by a lock bolt inserted into a long hole formed in the distance bracket. The fixed cam, which is inserted into the lock bolt and restricted in rotation by the movable cam that is inserted into the lock bolt and rotated by moving the upper jacket and the upper shaft in the axial direction within the range of the long hole, is the length of the lock bolt. Moved in the direction and locked That.

  In order to firmly connect the distance bracket to the side bracket so as not to move in the axial direction, as shown in a plan view in FIG. 9, the distance bracket is positioned at the top and bottom positions of the protrusion 20b of the fixed cam 20 that penetrates the side bracket 14. The formed rack teeth 20d mesh with the rack teeth 19c formed above and below the long hole 19b of the lock tooth 19 attached to the distance bracket 16.

On the other hand, when telescopic adjustment is performed by moving the distance bracket 16 formed with the long hole 19b relative to the lock bolt 17 in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, for example, the inner wall 19g at the front end of the long hole 19b becomes the lock bolt. When it collides with 17, a collision sound is generated. In order to alleviate this collision sound, a resin cylinder 27 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the lock bolt 17 is provided.
JP 2006-182062 A

  However, if the lock bolt 17 is tightened in a state where the lock bolt 17 and the resin tube 27 are located at the end of the long hole 19b, there is a problem that a half-lock state is brought about. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, in the state where the lock bolt 17 and the resin cylinder 27 are located at the end of the long hole 19b, the tip 20s of the tip of the movable rack tooth 20d is attached to the distance bracket 16. 9 is set so as to correspond to the second inclined surface 19s from the end of the fixed rack tooth 19c of the lock tooth 19, but when the resin cylinder 27 is compressed and deformed, the tip portion 20s starts from the position of the tooth groove to be meshed with FIG. , And slightly over the tip of the tooth and may hit the first inclined surface 19t from the end. If a large pressing force is applied to the fixed cam 20 in this state, the tip 20s is assumed to be engaged when the inner wall 19g significantly bites into the resin cylinder 27 as shown in FIG. 10 or due to variations in the dimensions of each component. Since the lock bolt 17 cannot move in the upward direction in FIG. 10 relative to the long hole 19b, the engagement is not deep and the engagement is incomplete and a half-locked state is obtained. End up. In the half-locked state, when the vehicle collides and the occupant has a secondary collision with the steering wheel, the distance bracket 16 may move forward with respect to the side bracket 14.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a steering column device that solves the above-described problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lower jacket coupled to a vehicle body and rotatably supporting a lower shaft, and an upper jacket provided rotatably relative to the lower jacket in an axial direction and rotatably supporting an upper shaft. A pair of left and right side brackets coupled to the vehicle body, a distance bracket disposed between the pair of side brackets and coupled to the upper jacket, and a long hole formed in the distance bracket along the axial direction; A lock tooth fitted into the long hole, a telescopic long hole formed in the lock tooth, a lock bolt inserted into the telescopic long hole and passing through the pair of side brackets, and a tip of the lock bolt inserted through to face the lock tooth through the one of the pair of side brackets in And member, and a pressing means for locking or unlocking the pressure above distance bracket toward the pressing member to the head of the locking bolt relative to the lock bolt with respect to said pair of side brackets, the said lock tooth In the steering column device having a pair of fixed rack teeth formed on both sides of the telescopic elongated hole, and a pair of movable rack teeth formed at the front end of the pressing member and facing each other so as to be able to mesh with the pair of fixed rack teeth,
The lock tooth is formed with a protruding portion that is fitted into the long hole of the distance bracket, while a concave portion is formed on the side bracket side, and the telescopic long hole is formed at the bottom surface position of the concave portion. The pair of fixed rack teeth are formed on both sides of the hole,
At least one end side of the telescopic slot, when the movable rack teeth are moved and meshed with the fixed rack teeth while the inner wall of the end of the telescopic slot is in contact with the lock bolt, a pair of inclined guide surfaces for guiding into the tooth groove of the end inclined surface located end inclined surface of the tooth tip located at the end of the movable rack teeth on the end of the fixed rack teeth, the said fixed rack teeth Forming the end inclined surface of the tooth gap extending toward the pressing member,
The pair of guide inclined surfaces are connected to each other, and a single connection guide inclined surface is provided in which the single connection guide inclined surface is provided in the recess .

According to this invention, the upper jacket is moved together with the steering wheel in the axial direction in a state where the movable rack teeth are separated from the fixed rack teeth of the lock tooth by releasing the pressing of the pressing member by the pressing means and moving the pressing member backward. Then, the lock tooth and the distance bracket can be moved by the length of the telescopic elongated hole with respect to the lock bolt. The telescopic long hole portion is moved relative to the lock bolt, and the pressing member is pressed by the pressing means in a state where the inner wall of either end of the telescopic long hole is in contact with the lock bolt. Accordingly, when the movable rack tooth at the tip of the pressing member is moved toward the fixed rack tooth of the lock tooth, the distal inclined surface of the tooth tip located at the front end or the rear end of the movable rack tooth becomes the front end or the rear end of the fixed rack tooth. It moves in contact with the guide inclined surface while being guided by the guide inclined surface. For this reason, the end inclined surface of the tooth tip located at the front end or the rear end of the movable rack tooth comes into contact with the end inclined surface of the front end or the rear end tooth groove of the fixed rack tooth, so that the movable rack tooth and the fixed rack tooth are in advance. Engage at the determined engagement position. Accordingly, the meshing becomes deep and the meshing strength is large.
According to the present invention, the two guide inclined surfaces arranged on both sides of the lock tooth telescopic elongated hole are connected to form a single connected guide inclined surface in the recess of the lock tooth . Processing is easy and the shape of the lock tooth is simplified.

According to the steering column device according to the present invention, the guide inclined surface is formed by extending the terminal inclined surface of the tooth groove located at the end of the fixed rack tooth in the lock tooth toward the pressing member. The tip inclined surface of the tooth tip located at the end of the movable rack tooth slides while being guided by the guide inclined surface of the lock tooth, and comes into contact with the terminal inclined surface of the tooth groove located at the end of the fixed rack tooth. For this reason, the movable rack teeth can mesh with the fixed rack teeth at a predetermined meshing position, thereby realizing a deep meshing. Therefore, when the lock bolt is in contact with the inner wall of the end portion of the telescopic long hole of the lock tooth, the half-lock state in which the engagement is not shallow as in the conventional case does not occur, and the engagement strength is high.
In addition, since the two guide inclined surfaces arranged on both sides of the lock tooth telescopic elongated hole are connected to form a single connected guide inclined surface in the recess of the lock tooth, it is easy to process the guide inclined surface. Yes , and the shape of the lock tooth is simplified.

  Embodiments of a steering column apparatus according to the present invention will be described below. In this steering column device, locking and unlocking of the tilt mechanism and locking and unlocking of the telescopic mechanism are operated by a single operation lever.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the steering column device 1 is coupled to the vehicle body via a bush 11 attached to an insertion hole 2 a formed in the dash panel 2 and a mounting portion 3. As shown in FIG. 7, a jacket 6 for covering the steering shaft 5 is composed of a right upper jacket 6a and a left lower jacket 6b provided so as to be relatively movable so as to cover a lower portion of the upper jacket 6a. It is configured. The left lower jacket 6b includes a right first lower jacket 6c and a second lower jacket 6d inserted on the left side of the first lower jacket 6c. The first lower jacket 6c and the second lower jacket 6d are formed with a protruding portion 7a projectingly formed on the inner peripheral surface on the left side of the first lower jacket 6c, and on the left side of the first lower jacket 6c. The right side of 6d is press-fitted and integrated.

  The steering shaft 5 is provided inside the jacket 6. The steering shaft 5 includes a hollow upper shaft 5a to which a steering wheel is attached at the right end, and a solid lower shaft 5b that is slidably coupled to the left side of the upper shaft 5a via a spline coupling portion (not shown) in the axial direction. It is composed of The upper shaft 5a is rotatably supported inside the upper jacket 6a via a bearing 8a disposed on the right side and a bearing 8b disposed on the left side. On the other hand, the lower shaft 5b is rotatably supported inside the second lower jacket 6d via a bearing 8c disposed on the left side. Resin sleeves 9 and 10 shown in FIG. 6 are provided between the upper jacket 6a and the first lower jacket 6c and between the upper jacket 6a and the second lower jacket 6d so that the telescopic operation can be performed smoothly. Yes. The resin sleeves 9 and 10 are formed with slits 9a and 10a, and the diameter can be freely reduced. A convex portion 9b that protrudes to the left and right is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the resin sleeve 9, and the convex portion 9b projects to the outside from an insertion hole 7b formed in the first lower jacket 6c.

  A tilt / telescopic mechanism 12 is provided so that the steering wheel can be tilted in the vertical direction together with the right upper shaft 5a and the upper jacket 6a or telescopic in the axial direction. Details will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of side brackets 13 and 14 are provided on the left and right to support the jacket 6 on the vehicle body. That is, the mounting seat 15 is coupled to the vehicle body via a bolt (not shown) inserted through the hole 15 a of the mounting seat 15, and the side brackets 13 and 14 are detachably attached to the mounting seat 15.

  The side brackets 13 and 14 are formed in a substantially inverted L shape, and inner peripheral edges 13 c and 14 c are formed on the horizontal portions of the side brackets 13 and 14. On the other hand, a slide groove 15 b is formed around the mounting seat 15. The inner peripheral edges 13c and 14c of the side brackets 13 and 14 are inserted into the slide groove 15b from the left side which is the front of the vehicle body. The mounting seat 15 and the side brackets 13, 14 are coupled by pouring molten resin into the resin holes 15 c of the mounting seat 15 and the resin holes 13 d, 14 d of the side brackets 13, 14.

  An energy absorbing member 34 is disposed on the lower surface of the mounting seat 15, and the energy absorbing member 34 is attached together with the mounting seat 15 by inserting the bolts for mounting the mounting seat 15 into holes 34 a of the energy absorbing member 34. It is connected to the car body. In this way, the engagement portion 34b in the front of the vehicle body in the energy absorbing member 34 coupled to the vehicle body is engaged with the notches 13e and 14e on the front side of the side brackets 13 and 14. When an excessive load is applied to the side brackets 13 and 14 toward the left, which is the front of the vehicle body, due to the secondary collision, the resin flowing into the resin holes 15c and the resin holes 13d and 14d is sheared, and the side brackets 13 and 13 are sheared. , 14 move toward the left side. Then, since the engaging part 34b is pulled to the left side, the energy absorbing member 34 is torn along the guide line 34c, and the impact due to the secondary collision is absorbed.

  A jacket 6 that supports the steering shaft 5 is disposed between the side brackets 13 and 14. The jacket 6 is configured by inserting the left side of the upper jacket 6a into the right side of the first lower jacket 6c in the lower jacket 6b via the resin sleeve 9, and the inserted portions slide on each other. It is a movable superposition part. And the said convex part 9b which protrudes outside from the insertion hole 7b of the 1st lower jacket 6c is contact | abutting to the inner surface of the side brackets 13 and 14. FIG.

The upper right side of the distance bracket 16 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is welded to the lower surface on the left side of the upper jacket 6a in FIG. On both sides of the distance bracket 16, telescopic elongated holes 16a and elongated holes 16b are formed along the axial direction, which is the length direction of the steering shaft 5, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the pair of side brackets 13 and 14 are formed with long slots for tilt 13a and 14a along the vertical direction. A lock bolt 17 is inserted through the telescopic elongated holes 16a and 16b and the elongated elongated holes 13a and 14a. A pressing means 18 is provided to fix the upper jacket 6a to the vehicle body by pressing the distance bracket 16 with the pair of side brackets 13 and 14 via the lock bolt 17.

  The configuration of the pressing means 18 will be described below. In order to press the distance bracket 16 with the side brackets 13, 14, the cam mechanism 22 constituting the pressing means 18 is provided at the tip of the lock bolt 17 that passes through the side brackets 13, 14 on the side opposite to the head 17 a. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the cam mechanism 22 is inserted in the vicinity of the tip of the lock bolt 17 so as to be movable in the axial direction of the lock bolt 17 and the rotation is restricted, and the cam mechanism 22 is inserted into the tip of the lock bolt 17. It is composed of a movable cam 23 that is controlled to move in the axial direction and is rotated. The fixed cam 20 is formed with a cam surface 20a formed by alternately forming a plurality of pairs in the circumferential direction along the circumferential direction, the lower portion and the higher portion, and a slope that smoothly connects the lower portion and the higher portion. Yes. On the other hand, the movable cam 23 is formed with a cam surface 23a in which a plurality of sets of protrusions that slide with respect to the low, inclined, and high portions of the cam surface 20a are formed along the circumferential direction. When the movable cam 23 is rotated relative to the fixed cam 20, the fixed cam 20 is pressed toward the distance bracket 16 against the lock bolt 17.

  On the opposite side of the fixed cam 20 from the cam surface 20a, a protruding portion 20b constituting a pressing member is integrally formed. The projecting portion 20 b penetrates the side bracket 14 and faces the distance bracket 16. The width dimension of one of the two long tilt holes 13a and 14a that are long in the vertical direction of the side brackets 13 and 14 is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the lock bolt 17. The width of the tilt long hole 14a is set to be larger than this. The protruding portion 20b is inserted so as to penetrate the long slot for tilt 14a. The vertical position of the fixed cam 20 is smaller than the width of the tilt long hole 14a so that the rotation of the fixed cam 20 is restricted and the fixed cam 20 can slide along the tilt long hole 14a. A pair of guide projections 20c each having a slightly shorter flat plate shape are integrally formed. That is, the protruding portion 20b and the pair of upper and lower guide convex portions 20c penetrate the tilt long hole 14a, and when performing the tilt adjustment, the protruding portion 20b and the pair of guide convex portions 20c. Slides up and down with the lock bolt 17 along the elongated tilt hole 14a.

In order to strengthen the connection between the distance bracket 16 and the side brackets 13 and 14 by the pressing of the cam mechanism 22, the following configuration is adopted. With respect to the width dimension of the telescopic elongated holes 16 a and 16 b that are long in the axial direction of the distance bracket 16, the telescopic elongated holes 16 a are set slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the lock bolt 17. On the other hand, the width dimension of the long hole 16b is set to be larger than this, and the protruding portion 19a of the lock tooth 19 is fitted into the long hole 16b . The projection 19a is formed with a telescopic long hole 19b that is substantially the same size as the telescopic long hole 16a. Rack teeth 19c are formed on the outer surfaces of the telescopic long holes 19b at the upper and lower positions. It is formed along the axial direction. The lock tooth 19 is sandwiched between the distance bracket 16 and the side bracket 14 in a state in which the protruding portion 19a is fitted in the long hole 16b . On the other hand, rack teeth (movable rack teeth) that can be engaged with the upper and lower rack teeth (fixed rack teeth) 19c of the telescopic slot 19b are vertically positioned with the lock bolt 17 at the tip of the protruding portion 20b interposed therebetween. The distance bracket 16, that is, the upper jacket 6 a is firmly fixed to the side brackets 13 and 14 by forming the rack teeth 19 c and the rack teeth 19 c and 20 d.

The relationship between the rack teeth (fixed rack teeth) 19c of the lock tooth 19 and the rack teeth (movable rack teeth) 20d of the protruding portion 20b of the fixed cam 20 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 19 a is formed on the back surface of the lock tooth 19, and the protrusion 19 a is fitted in the long hole 16 b of the distance bracket 16. A recess is formed on the front surface of the lock tooth 19. The telescopic slot 19b is formed at the bottom surface of the recess, and rack teeth 19c are formed at the vertical positions on both sides of the telescopic slot 19b on the bottom surface. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, rack teeth 20d facing the rack teeth 19c so as to mesh with each other are formed at the upper and lower positions of the tip of the protruding portion 20b.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the rack teeth 20d are moved rightward and meshed with the rack teeth 19c with the inner wall surface 19g at the front end of the telescopic long hole 19b in contact with the resin cylinder 27a surrounding the lock bolt 17. In addition, the end inclined surface 19d of the tooth groove located at the front end of the rack tooth 19c with which the end inclined surface 20e located at the front end of the rack tooth 20d abuts is extended toward the protruding portion 20b side, A guide inclined surface 19e is formed to guide the distal inclined surface 20e of the tooth tip to the distal inclined surface 19d of the tooth gap. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide inclined surfaces 19e of the upper and lower rack teeth 19c are connected in the vertical direction to form a single connected guide inclined surface 19f. The guide inclined surface 19e and the connecting guide inclined surface 19f are formed not only at the front end portion of the telescopic long hole 19b of the lock tooth 19 but also at the rear end portion which is the right end in FIG.

  A pair of resin cylinders 27 a and 27 b are inserted into the lock bolt 17 as elastic cylinders in order to reduce the impact when the inner wall surfaces at both ends of the telescopic elongated holes 16 a and 19 b collide with the lock bolt 17. . A pressure contact spring 30 is provided between the pair of resin tubes 27a and 27b as pressure contact urging means for urging the pair of resin tubes 27a and 27b away from each other. As shown in FIG. 4, the end surface of one resin cylinder 27b is described later so that the respective resin cylinders 27a and 27b are surely interposed between the inner wall of both ends of the telescopic elongated holes 16a and 19b and the lock bolt 17. The end face of the other resin cylinder 27 a is inserted into the long hole 19 b of the lock tooth 19 and is in contact with the tip of the protruding portion 20 b of the fixed cam 20.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a convex portion 23 b is formed at the axial center position of the movable cam 23 opposite to the cam surface 23 a, and the convex portion 23 b is shaped into a shaft hole 21 a formed in the operation lever 21. Has been. The tip of the lock bolt 17 passes through the position of the shaft hole 21 a of the operation lever 21, and a lock nut 24 is screwed into the lock bolt 17. In order to couple the lock nut 24 to the operation lever 21 and adjust the relative rotational position of the operation lever 21 with respect to the lock nut 24, a lock plate 25 having a hexagonal hole 25a into which the lock nut 24 is fitted is formed. And an arc-shaped long hole 25b centered on the hexagonal hole 25a is formed. A bolt 26 inserted through the long hole 25 b is screwed into the screw hole 21 b of the operation lever 21. The movable cam 23 can be rotated by operating the operation lever 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a support bracket 28 is coupled to the lower surface of the upper portion of the first lower jacket 6c. A hook portion 28a is formed on the right side of the support bracket 28. The hook portion 28a extends obliquely downward toward the front and extends in the lateral direction. A round hole for inserting the lock bolt 17 into the base end portion of the hook portion 28a. 28b is formed. As shown in FIG. 4, the hook portion 28 a is sandwiched between the side bracket 13 and the distance bracket 16, and between the hook portion 13 b and the hook portion 28 a formed on one side bracket 13, A support spring 29 that supports the jacket 6 is provided.

  Next, the operation of the steering column device will be described.

  When the protrusion of the cam surface 23 a of the movable cam 23 is positioned at the high portion of the cam surface 20 a of the fixed cam 20 by rotating the operation lever 21, the movable cam 23 moves the fixed cam 20 to the lock bolt 17. In order to press toward the head 17a side, the cam mechanism 22 presses the protruding portion 20b of the fixed cam 20. As a result, the rack teeth 20d formed at the top and bottom of the tip of the projecting portion 20b mesh with the rack teeth 19c of the lock tooth 19, and the projecting portion 20b enters the tilt long hole 14a and is regulated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. The bracket 16 is regulated in the axial direction to be in a telescopic lock state, and the distance bracket 16 is regulated to move up and down by the frictional force between the distance bracket 16, the support bracket 28, the side brackets 13 and 14, and the fixed cam 20. Tilt lock.

  On the other hand, when the operation lever 21 is rotated to position the protrusion of the cam surface 23a of the movable cam 23 at the lower portion of the cam surface 20a of the fixed cam 20, the pressing by the cam mechanism 22 is released, and the fixed cam The force which presses 20 toward the head 17a side of the lock bolt 17 is lost. At this time, since the urging force of the pressure contact spring 30 acts on the fixed cam 20 via the one resin cylinder 27a, the fixed cam 20 is urged toward the movable cam 23 and the upper and lower racks at the tip of the protruding portion 20b. The teeth 20 d are separated from the upper and lower rack teeth 19 c of the lock tooth 19. Further, the distance bracket 16 is released by the pressure from the side brackets 13 and 14, and thus the distance bracket 16 can be moved in either the axial direction or the vertical direction, and telescopic adjustment and tilt adjustment are possible. .

  When the telescopic adjustment is performed with the distance bracket 16 opened as described above, the distance bracket 16 is moved in the axial direction between the pair of side brackets 13 and 14 to adjust the steering wheel 4 in the front-rear direction. At this time, since the distance bracket 16 moves in the axial direction, the telescopic elongated holes 16a and 19b move relative to the lock bolt 17 in the axial direction.

  According to the present invention, by releasing the pressing by the cam mechanism 22, the protruding portion 20b moves backward together with the fixed cam 20 by the biasing force of the pressure contact spring 30, and the rack teeth 20d are separated from the rack teeth 19c. At the same time, by moving the upper jacket 6a in the axial direction, the distance bracket 16 can be moved relative to the lock bolt 17 by the length of the telescopic long hole 19b. The cam mechanism 22 is moved in the state shown in FIG. 1 in which the telescopic long hole 19b is moved relative to the lock bolt 17 so that, for example, the front wall 19g of the telescopic long hole 19b contacts the lock bolt 17. By operating the protrusion 20b to the right by operating and moving the rack teeth 20d at the tip of the protrusion 20b to the right toward the rack teeth 19c of the distance bracket 16, FIG. 1 is the front end of the rack teeth 20d. The tip inclined surface 20e of the tooth tip located in the upper part contacts the guide inclined surface 19e at the front end of the rack tooth 19c and moves while being guided by the guide inclined surface 19e. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip inclined surface 20e of the tooth tip located at the front end of the rack tooth 20d abuts on the terminal inclined surface 19d of the front tooth groove of the rack tooth 19c, and the rack tooth 20d and the rack tooth 19c Meshes at a predetermined meshing position. Accordingly, the meshing becomes deep and the meshing strength is large.

  According to the present invention, the two guide inclined surfaces 19e disposed above and below the telescopic long hole 19b of the distance bracket 16 are connected to form a single connected guide inclined surface 19f. Is easy, and the shape of the distance bracket 16 is simplified.

  On the other hand, when the tilt adjustment is performed with the distance bracket 16 opened as described above, the distance bracket 16 is moved vertically between the pair of side brackets 13 and 14 to adjust the height of the steering wheel 4. . At this time, the lock bolt 17 moves in the vertical direction inside the elongated slots 13a and 14a, and the steering shaft 5 swings about the bush 11 in FIG.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a steering column apparatus having both a tilt mechanism section and a telescopic mechanism section. However, the present invention may be applied to a steering column apparatus having only a telescopic mechanism section. it can. Although the case where the cam mechanism is used as the pressing means is shown, the pressing means only needs to be able to press the pressing member inserted through the lock bolt in the axial direction against the lock bolt. Any material can be used as long as it can press the pressing member .

Action | operation explanatory drawing before a movable rack tooth meshes with a fixed rack tooth in the state which the lock bolt contact | abutted to the inner wall surface of the edge part of a telescopic long hole (embodiment). Action | operation explanatory drawing (movable rack tooth | gear) mesh | engaged with the fixed rack tooth | gear in the state which the lock bolt contact | abutted to the inner wall surface of the edge part of a telescopic long hole (embodiment). The perspective view of lock tooth of a steering column device (embodiment). The block diagram which shows the locked state of a steering column apparatus (embodiment). The block diagram which shows the lock release state of a steering column apparatus (embodiment). A perspective view of a steering column device (embodiment). The front view of a steering column apparatus (embodiment). 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a steering column device (embodiment). Action explanatory drawing before a movable rack tooth meshes with a fixed rack tooth in the state which the lock bolt contact | abutted to the inner wall surface of the edge part of a telescopic long hole (conventional). Action explanatory drawing (moving conventional rack gears) in which the movable rack teeth mesh with the fixed rack teeth in a state where the lock bolt is in contact with the inner wall surface of the end of the telescopic elongated hole.

Explanation of symbols

5a ... Upper shaft 5b ... Lower shaft 6a ... Upper jacket 6b ... Lower jacket 13, 14 ... Side bracket 16 ... Distance bracket
16a, 19b ... Telescopic slot
16b ... long hole 17 ... lock bolt
17a ... head
19 ... Rock Tooth
19a ... Projection 19c ... Rack teeth (fixed rack teeth)
19d ... End inclined surface of tooth gap 19e ... Guide inclined surface 19f ... Connection guide inclined surface 20 ... Fixed cam 20b ... Projection (pressing member)
20d ... Rack teeth (movable rack teeth)
20e ... inclined tip end surface of tooth tip 21 ... operating lever 22 ... cam mechanism (pressing means)
23 ... Movable cam

Claims (1)

A pair of a lower jacket coupled to the vehicle body for rotatably supporting the lower shaft, an upper jacket provided for relative movement in the axial direction relative to the lower jacket and rotatably supporting the upper shaft, and a pair of left and right coupled to the vehicle body Side brackets, a distance bracket disposed between the pair of side brackets and coupled to the upper jacket, a long hole formed in the distance bracket along the axial direction, and a lock tooth fitted in the long hole A telescopic long hole formed in the lock tooth, a lock bolt inserted through the telescopic long hole and penetrating the pair of side brackets, and a pair of side brackets inserted through the distal ends of the lock bolts a pressing member facing the lock tooth through one of the pressing member A pressing means for locking or unlocking the distance bracket is pressed toward the head of the locking bolt relative to the lock bolt with respect to said pair of side brackets, formed on both sides of the telescopic long hole of the lock tooth a pair of fixed rack teeth which is a steering column device having a pair of movable rack teeth to the fixed rack teeth engageable with the opposing tip is formed of a pair of the pressing member,
The lock tooth is formed with a protruding portion that is fitted into the long hole of the distance bracket, while a concave portion is formed on the side bracket side, and the telescopic long hole is formed at the bottom surface position of the concave portion. The pair of fixed rack teeth are formed on both sides of the hole,
At least one end side of the telescopic slot, when the movable rack teeth are moved and meshed with the fixed rack teeth while the inner wall of the end of the telescopic slot is in contact with the lock bolt, a pair of inclined guide surfaces for guiding into the tooth groove of the end inclined surface located end inclined surface of the tooth tip located at the end of the movable rack teeth on the end of the fixed rack teeth, the said fixed rack teeth Forming the end inclined surface of the tooth gap extending toward the pressing member,
A steering column device, wherein the pair of guide inclined surfaces are connected to each other and a single connecting guide inclined surface is provided in the recess .

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