KR101602650B1

KR101602650B1 - Rack Bar Supporting Device of Steering Apparatus for Vehicle

Info

Publication number: KR101602650B1
Application number: KR1020140139691A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 지성호
Original assignee: 주식회사 만도
Priority date: 2014-10-16
Filing date: 2014-10-16
Publication date: 2016-03-11

Abstract

Disclosed is a rack bar support device of a steering apparatus for a vehicle. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the rack bar support device of a steering apparatus for a vehicle, comprises: a support yoke which is coupled to a hollow of a rack pinion device to support a rack bar; an elastic assembly body which is coupled to a hollow to elastically pressurize the support yoke; and a yoke plug of which one end supports an elastic body and the other end is fixed in the hollow, and which is provided with a cam member to compensate for clearance between the rack bar and the support yoke, wherein the elastic assembly body includes a plurality of leaf springs and a pad support hole for coupling the leaf spring to the yoke plug, and the pad support hole includes a support pin which couples to a disc plate and a support pin hole which is extended from the disc plate and provided at the yoke plug. Accordingly, the rack bar support device of a steering apparatus for a vehicle stably maintains the support force of the support yoke.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a rack bar supporting device for a vehicle steering device,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rack bar supporting apparatus for a vehicle steering apparatus, and more particularly, to a rack bar supporting apparatus provided in a rack- &Lt; / RTI >

BACKGROUND ART [0002] Generally, a steering apparatus is a device that allows a driver to change a traveling direction of a vehicle according to a driver's will. The steering apparatus arbitrarily changes the turning center of the front wheel of the vehicle so that the driver can advance the vehicle in a desired direction.

1, the rack-and-pinion steering device 1 includes a steering wheel 2 disposed in front of the driver, a steering shaft 3 coupled to the center of the steering wheel 2, and a steering shaft 3 A rack pinion mechanism 5 including a rack 5a and a pinion 5b for converting the rotational force inputted from the steering shaft 3 into a linear motion, a rack 5a And a tie rod 7 integrally formed with the balls of the inner ball joint 6a. One end of the tie rod 7 is connected to the rack bar 6 through the inner ball joint 6a and the other end is connected to the knuckle 8 through the outer ball joint 6b. The knuckle 8 is connected to the wheel 9 ).

When the driver rotates the steering wheel 2, the steering shaft 3 rotates, and the generated rotational force is transmitted to the rack 5a through the pinion 5b, and the pinion 5b The rack 5a is reciprocated right and left by the rotation of the rack bar 6, so that the rack bar 6 is moved to the left and right to change the direction of the wheel 9, thereby stably steering the vehicle.

On the other hand, in order to stably steer the vehicle with the rack-and-pinion type steering device 1, the gear engagement between the rack 5a and the pinion 5b must always be kept in close contact. However, since the rack 5a and the pinion 5b are gradually worn at the contact portion in use, a clearance is formed at the contact portion, thereby causing operation noise. To prevent this, a rack-and-pinion type steering apparatus 1 Has a rack-and-pinion support mechanism (5) provided on the rack pinion mechanism (5) for compensating the gap between the rack (5a) and the pinion (5b).

Korea Patent Publication No. 2014-0020049 (2014. 02. 18.) The above-mentioned document discloses a rack bar supporting device which comprises a support yoke for supporting a rack bar, a plate-like elastic assembly for elastically pressing the support yoke, a yoke for pressing the support yoke toward the rack bar by fixing and supporting the plate- And a plug.

The apparatus for supporting a rack bar of a vehicle steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention simplifies the structure of the internal parts to improve the ease of assembly.

Further, in the rack bar supporting apparatus of the vehicle steering apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the support force of the support yoke is stably set and maintained.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rack support structure, comprising: a support yoke coupled to a hollow of a rack pinion mechanism to support a rack bar; An elastic assembly coupled to the hollow to elastically press the support yoke; And a yoke plug having therein a cam member for supporting an elastic body and the other end fixed to the hollow and compensating for a clearance between the rack bar and the support yoke, wherein the elastic assembly includes a plurality of leaf springs, Wherein the pad support includes a disc plate and a support pin extending from the disc plate and coupled to a support pin hole provided in the yoke plug, .

The yoke plug has a plug housing, a plug cam rotatably installed in the plug housing and having a cam inclined face toward the support yoke, and a cam inclined face engaged with the plug cam, A torsion spring interposed between the plug housing and the plug cam; and a fixing bolt screwed to the plug cam from the outside of the plug housing to adjust an elastic force of the torsion spring, Can be provided on the cam.

The supporting pin includes a rod which is separated from the supporting pin and which is provided at the end of the rod, and the supporting pin hole includes a rod hole into which the rod is inserted and a slit- And the yoke cam and the support pin can be coupled by rotating the support pin after inserting the support pin into the yoke cam through the engagement hole hole.

Further, the disk plate and the support pin may be integrally provided.

The apparatus for supporting a rack bar of a vehicle steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention simplifies the assembling process by providing an elastic assembly for elastically supporting a support yoke to be pre-assembled to a yoke plug.

Further, in the rack bar supporting device of the vehicle steering apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the elastic assembly is coupled with the key hole in the key hole of the yoke plug by using the pad support having the support pin, so that it is easy to tighten.

1 is a view schematically showing a rack-and-pinion type steering apparatus of a general vehicle.
2 is a cross-sectional view showing a rack bar supporting apparatus of a vehicle steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exploded perspective view showing a rack bar supporting apparatus of a vehicle steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view showing one side of a support yoke in a rack bar supporting apparatus of a vehicle steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a plan view showing one side of a support yoke in a rack bar supporting apparatus of a vehicle steering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the embodiments described below are provided as examples so that those skilled in the art will be able to fully understand the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below and may be embodied in other forms. Further, in order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted from the drawings, , Length, thickness, etc. may be exaggerated for convenience. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a rack bar supporting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a rack bar supporting apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, a rack bar supporting apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a support yoke 10 for supporting a rack bar 6 provided with a rack 5a in a hollow 5c of a rack and pinion mechanism 5, 10 and a yoke plug 30 for fixing and supporting the support yoke 10 and the elastic assembly 20 at the hollow 5c.

The support yoke 10 serves to support the rack bar 6 in direct contact with the rack bar 6 on the back side, for example, on the opposite side of the pinion 5b. The support yoke 10 rotates the pinion 5b In the direction perpendicular to the direction of the arrows. The support yoke 10 has a support surface which is in contact with the rack bar 6 so as to be in close contact with the bar-shaped rack bar 6 and is curved in a semicircular shape. The yoke sheet 11 can be joined so as to reduce friction and wear with respect to the yoke 6.

The support yoke 10 may include at least one ring member 12 elastically supported on the hollow 5c of the rack pinion mechanism 5 on the outer peripheral surface. The ring member 12 is coupled to a ring-shaped groove formed in the outer circumferential surface or the outer circumferential surface of the support yoke 10 to absorb an impact due to an external force.

The elastic assembly 20 is an elastic recoil member for elastically pressing the support yoke 10 against the rack bar 6 and is provided on the back surface of the support yoke 10. The elastic assembly 20 partly compensates for the clearance between the rack bar 6 and the support yoke 10 due to abrasion between the rack 5a and the pinion 5b by using an elastic restoring force, The external impact transmitted to the rack bar supporting device from the rack bar 6 can be resiliently mitigated.

The elastic assembly 20 includes a plurality of leaf springs 21 and a pad support 22 for mounting the leaf springs 21 to the yoke plug 30. The leaf springs 21,

At least one leaf spring 21 may be stacked. The plate spring 21 has a ring shape and has a cross section tapered along the thickness direction. When the plate spring 21 is pressed in the thickness direction, the support yoke 10 elastically presses the support yoke 10 toward the pinion 5b.

The pad support 22 is a means for fixing the leaf spring 21 to the yoke plug 30 and is interposed between the leaf spring 21 and the support yoke 10.

To this end, the pad support 22 includes a disc plate 22a and support pins 22b extending from the disc plate 22a and fixedly coupled to the yoke plug 30, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 do. The support pin 22b is integrally provided with the disc plate 22a, and is separated from the two rods and protruded from the disc plate 22a. The two support pin rods are spaced apart from each other, so that when the end is pressed toward the center, the support pin rods can be elastically moved and can be easily coupled to the grooves of corresponding sizes. At the end of the support pin 22b, a locking protrusion 24 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the spaced rod is provided, so that the engagement state can be stably maintained even after fastening with the corresponding part. As will be described later, the support pin 22b of this embodiment is coupled to a support pin hole provided in the yoke cam 33 of the yoke plug 30. [

The yoke plug 30 is fixedly coupled to the hollow 5c of the rack pinion mechanism 5 to support the elastic assembly 20 toward the support yoke 10. The yoke plug 30 compensates the clearance between the rack bar 6 and the support yoke 10 caused by wear between the rack 5a and the pinion 5b together with the elasticity assembly 20 The cam member is provided on the inner side.

The yoke plug 30 includes a plug housing 31 and a cam member provided inside the plug housing 31 so as to be rotatably installed inside the plug housing 31 and to face the support yoke 10 A yoke cam 33 which is provided so as to linearly reciprocate in the thickness direction of the plug housing 31 and has a cam inclined face cam-engaged with the plug cam 32; And a fixing bolt 35 for adjusting the elastic force of the torsion spring 34. The torsion spring 34 is inserted between the plug cam 32 and the plug cam 32,

The plug housing 31 is provided in a cylindrical shape with one side opened and has a cylinder hole 31a at the bottom center. Although not shown in detail, the plug housing 31 can be forcedly press-fitted into the hollow 5c of the rack pinion mechanism 5 or can be firmly fastened through a screw connection.

The plug cam 32 has a space through which the torsion spring 34 can be inserted into the rear surface of the plug housing 31 facing the plug housing 31. The plug cam 32 also has a groove (not shown) capable of supporting one end of the torsion spring 34 Respectively. Therefore, when the torsion spring 34 rotates, the plug cam 32 can rotate simultaneously inside the plug housing 31. [

The yoke cam 33 has a cam inclined surface corresponding to the cam inclined surface of the plug cam 32 on the front surface, and the above-described elastic assembly 20 is provided on the rear surface.

3 to 5, a yoke cam 33 is attached to the rear surface of the yoke cam 33 with a leaf spring guide (not shown) substantially identical to the inside diameter of the leaf spring 21 And a support pin hole through which the support pin 22b of the pad support 22 is passed is provided at the center of the leaf spring guide 37. [ The support pinhole includes a load hole 38 having an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the rod of the support pin 22b and a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the circumferential surface of the rod hole 38 And a staking hole 39 in which a slit-shaped slit is additionally opened. Therefore, when the locking projection 24 of the support pin 22b is inserted into the yoke cam 33 through the locking hole 39 and rotated at a predetermined angle, such as a keyway and a key engagement, the yoke cam 33, The earth 22 is easily coupled (see FIG. 5). The support pin 22b is inserted while pressurizing the leaf spring 21 when engaged. When the leaf spring 21 is rotated after being inserted, the support pin 22b firmly retains the state of engagement with the yoke cam 33 by the elastic restoring force of the leaf spring. The coupling between the yoke cam 33 and the elastic assembly 20 using the key-shaped support pin 22b can significantly reduce the assembly error because the elastic force of the leaf spring can be determined by the dimensions of each component.

The torsion spring 34 is fixed at one end to the fixing bolt 35 and the other end is fixed to the plug cam 32 so that the plug cam 32 is elastically tensioned from the yoke plug 30.

The fastening bolt 35 is provided on the rear side of the plug housing 31 of the yoke plug 30 in a state where the yoke cam 33 and the plug cam 32 are cam-engaged when the rack bar supporting device is assembled to the rack pinion mechanism 5 And is threadedly engaged with the plug cam 32 through the cylinder hole 31a provided in the screw hole 31a. Since the plug cam 32 is rotatably provided inside the plug housing 31 and the cam-coupled yoke cam 33 is linearly movable through a guide projection (not shown), when the fixing bolt 35 is rotated The spacing between the plug housing 31 and the plug cam 32 is varied and the resilient restoring force of the torsion spring 34 is adjusted through the same so that the yoke cam 33 finally cam- The force for pressing the yoke 10 can also be adjusted. That is, the elastic restoring force of the torsion spring 34 can be adjusted according to the tightening and loosening of the fixing bolt 50 with respect to the plug cam 32. As a result, the yoke cam 33 rotates the support yoke 10 The clearance between the rack bar 6 and the support yoke 10 caused by the wear between the rack 5a and the pinion 5b can be sufficiently compensated by adjusting the pressing force.

On the other hand, the fixing bolts 35 are assembled by minimizing the distance between the plug housing 31 and the plug cam 32 at the time of initial assembling, and by properly loosening the fixing bolts 35 after coupling, the elastic restoring force of the torsion springs 34 The elastic force between the yoke cam 33 and the support yoke 10 can be easily and stably set.

A description will now be made of a state in which a clearance generated by wear of the rack and pinion is compensated by the rack bar supporting apparatus having the above structure.

First, when the rack 5b and the pinion 5b are spaced apart from each other due to wear for a long period of time, the yoke cam 33 which can move forward from the yoke plug 30 is restored by the elastic restoring force of the torsion spring 34 And relatively advances relative to the yoke plug 30. That is, the yoke cam 33 pressed by the torsion spring 34 advances by the space generated by the wear clearance, and the yoke cam 33 rotates along the inclined surface in contact with the plug cam 32, The elastic restoring force of the torsion spring 34 is stably maintained. When the compensation distance is large, the resilient restoring force of the torsion spring 34 can be set again through the fixing bolt 35. Therefore, since the rack bar supporting device always brings the rack bar 6 against the pinion 5b through the support yoke 10, the noise that may occur due to the clearance between the rack bar pinion and the rack bar pinion is inherently prevented.

1. Rack pinion type steering system 2. Steering wheel
3 .. Steering axis 5 .. Rack pinion mechanism
6. Rack bar 10. Support yoke
20. Elastic assembly 21. Plate spring
22. The pad support 22b.
24 .. Stopper 30 .. York plug
31. Plug housing 32. Plug cam
33 .. York cam 34 .. Torsion spring
35 .. fixing bolt 38 .. rod hole
However,

Claims

A support yoke coupled to the hollow of the rack pinion mechanism to support the rack bar;
An elastic assembly coupled to the hollow to elastically press the support yoke; And
And a yoke plug having therein a cam member for supporting the elastic assembly, the other end being fixed to the hollow, and compensating for a clearance between the rack bar and the support yoke,
The elastic assembly includes a plurality of leaf springs and a pad support for coupling the leaf springs to the yoke plug,
Wherein the pad support member includes a disc plate and a support pin extending integrally from the disc plate and coupled to a support pin hole provided in the yoke plug.

The method according to claim 1,
The yoke plug includes a plug housing, a plug cam rotatably installed in the plug housing and having a cam inclined face toward the support yoke, a yoke having a cam inclined face engaged with the plug cam, A torsion spring interposed between the plug housing and the plug cam; and a fixing bolt screwed to the plug cam from the outside of the plug housing to adjust an elastic force of the torsion spring,
And the support pinhole is provided on the yoke cam.

3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the support pin includes a rod separated in two and a locking protrusion provided at a rod end,
Wherein the support pinhole includes a rod hole into which the rod is inserted and a locking hole provided in a slit shape on the circumferential surface of the rod hole so that the locking protrusion is inserted,
And the yoke cam is engaged with the support pin by rotating the support pin after inserting the support pin into the yoke cam through the engagement hole.

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