Land vehicles – Wheeled – Running gear
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-28
2001-05-29
Rice, Kenneth R. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Running gear
C280S777000, C280S779000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237954
ABSTRACT:
This application claims the benefit of Japanese patent applications Nos. 10-215045 and 11-034191 which are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a steering column supporting apparatus for supporting on a car body a steering column constituting a steering device of an automobile, and to a steering column supporting apparatus capable of reducing costs by decreasing the number of parts and the number of assembly processes.
2. Related Background Art
FIGS. 27-29
show one example of an automobile steering apparatus which has hitherto been known. A motion of an unillustrated steering wheel is transmitted to a steering gear which is not likewise illustrated via a steering shaft
36
and an unillustrated universal joint, thereby imparting a steering angle to front wheels. Further, the steering shaft
36
is rotatably supported inside a steering column
6
supported on a car body. This steering column
6
is fixedly supported through a support bracket
38
and a supported bracket
39
on a fixed bracket
37
fixed by welding to a cross member
1
provided on the car body.
The support bracket
38
is fixedly connected to the fixed bracket
37
by use of bolts
40
,
40
and nuts
46
,
46
. The supported bracket
39
is fixedly connected by welding to an intermediate portion of the steering column
6
. Then, the supported bracket
39
is fixedly connected to the support bracket
39
by use of a bolt
11
and a nut
12
.
Note that the example illustrated therein shows a shock absorbing tilt type steering apparatus given a shock absorbing function of absorbing a shock applied to a body of the driver who has collided with the steering wheel when at a secondary collision, and a function of making adjustable of a height position of the steering wheel. A contrivance of providing the shock absorbing function thereof involves the use of a collapsible steering column
6
of which an entire length is reduced while absorbing an impact energy. In addition, a supported bracket
39
is so supported by a support bracket
38
as to be detachable therefrom when a strong force acting forward (leftward in
FIG. 2
) is applied.
A front side end (a left side end in
FIG. 27
) of the steering column
6
is supported on a car body
42
in a rockable manner about shafts
41
,
41
. To be specific, a rock bracket
44
fixed by welding to the front side end of the steering column is pivotally supported through the horizontal shafts
41
,
41
by a lower fixed bracket
43
fixed to the car body
42
with a bolt. Further, the bolt
11
engages with an elongate hole
45
formed in the support bracket
38
and taking a circular arc with the horizontal shaft
41
being centered. Note that a structure of the shock absorbing tilt type steering apparatus, which has hitherto been known, is not related to the gist of the present invention, and hence a detailed description thereof is omitted.
The prior art structure described above requires a large number of parts needed for supporting the steering column on the car body, which inevitably leads to a rise in terms of costs. Namely, the prior art structure requires at least “the fixed bracket
37
”, “the support bracket
38
”, “plural pairs of bolts
40
,
40
and nuts
46
,
46
for connecting the fixed bracket
37
and the support bracket
38
to each other”.
It is therefore inevitable that a parts working cost, a parts management cost and an assembly cost rise due to an increase in the number of parts, which might induce a rise in the costs for automobile steering apparatus including a steering column supporting apparatus. Further, it is required that the plural pairs of bolts
40
,
40
and nuts
46
,
46
for connecting the fixed bracket
37
and the support bracket
38
to each other, be disposed, as obvious from
FIG. 28
, at a large pitch to some extent in terms of how much a tool for fastening the bolts
40
,
40
and the nuts
46
,
46
can be handled. Consequently, there arises a necessity for setting width dimensions (right-and-left directional dimensions in
FIG. 28
) of the fixed bracket
37
and of the support bracket
38
larger than substantially needed, with the result that the steering column supporting apparatus is downsized and reduced in weight with a difficulty.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, which provides an apparatus for supporting a steering column was devised under such circumstances.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for supporting a steering column comprises a cross member spanned over two right-and-left walls of a car body at a portion just anterior to a driver's seat, a support bracket integrally fixedly connected to a portion, aligned with the driver's seat, of an intermediate portion of the cross member, a supported bracket fixedly connected to an intermediate portion of the steering column, and a connecting member for connecting the support bracket and the supported bracket to each other with no intermediary of other brackets.
More preferably, in addition to the requirement given above, the following requirements (1)-(3) are provided.
(1) The support bracket includes a pair of right-and-left support plate members parallel to each other and is fixedly connected by welding to the cross member. The supported bracket is interposed between the pair of support plate members in a state of being fixed by welding to the steering column. The connecting member is a bolt penetrating the pair of support plate members and the supported bracket. The supported bracket is fixedly supported by the pair of support plate member with a nut screwed to the tip of the bolt and with a head of the bolt.
(2) The supported bracket is supported in an up-and-down position adjustable manner by the support bracket, and the front side end of the steering column is supported in a rockable manner by a rock support member provided at a front side end of the support bracket.
(3) In addition to at least the requirement (1) (further to the two requirements (1) and (2) as the necessity may arise), the supported bracket is so connected to said support bracket as to be shiftable forward when a strong load acting forward is applied to said steering column. The front side end of the steering column is supported by a shock absorbing member provided at the front side end of the support bracket. The shock absorbing member, if the strong load is applied thereto, permits the steering column to shift forward while being plastically deformed.
In the case of the thus constructed apparatus for supporting the steering column according to the present invention, the support bracket is integrally fixed connected to the cross member, it is therefore possible to reduce the number of parts by omitting the “fixed bracket” and the “plural pairs of bolts and nuts for connecting the fixed bracket and the support bracket to each other” which have hitherto been required for the prior art structure described above. As a result, the costs for the automobile steering apparatus including the steering column supporting apparatus can be restrained small by decreasing each of the parts working cost, the parts management cost and the assembly cost. Further, with the plural pairs of bolts and nuts being unnecessary, the width of the support bracket can be set to a dimension necessary for supporting the steering column. Therefore, in combination with the omissions of the “fixed bracket” and the “plural pairs of bolts and nuts for connecting the fixed bracket and the support bracket to each other”, the steering column supporting apparatus can be downsized and decreased in weight.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1520677 (1924-12-01), Moyse
patent: 3533302 (1970-10-01), Hansen
patent: 5052240 (1991-10-01), Miyoshi et al.
patent: 5114182 (1992-05-01), Thull et al.
patent: 5531317 (1996-07-01), Tomaru
patent: 5669634 (1997-09-01), Heinzman et al.
patent: 3642437 (1988-03-01), None
patent: 0 338 923 (1989-10-01), None
patent: 0 440 898 (1991-08-01), None
patent: 2 740 882 (19
Chikuma Isamu
Higashino Kiyoharu
Matsumoto Sakae
Sato Kenji
Miles & Stockbridge P..C
NSK Ltd.
Rice Kenneth R.
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