Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Special application – Steering wheel – shaft or column mounted
Patent
1997-09-05
1999-12-28
McDermott, Corrine
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Special application
Steering wheel, shaft or column mounted
439 15, H01H 900, H01R 3900
Patent
active
06008457&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many vehicles, in particular, motor vehicles, are provided with a steering wheel that acts upon the wheels (or a rudder, respectively) via a steering column and consequently makes it possible to steer the vehicle. In addition, a so-called steering column switch is usually arranged within the region of the steering column. The housing of the steering column switch is arranged stationary with respect to the vehicle housing. Such a steering column switch serves for actuating various electrically operated devices, e.g., the windshield wiper, the windshield washer, the lights, etc.
In addition, a contact is arranged on the rotatable steering wheel in order to provide easy access to a contact that triggers an acoustic warning device (e.g., the horn). This contact is connected to the warning device via the housing of the steering column switch. Since the electric connection between the warning contact and the housing of the steering column switch needs to be ensured over the entire service life of the vehicle, the connection between the warning contact and the housing of the steering column switch is realized by means of a so-called spiral spring. This particular measure also applies to the electric line that serves for triggering the airbag.
The spiral spring represents a cylindrical, coiled connecting line, one end of which is rigidly anchored to the housing of the steering column switch and the other end of which is connected to the rotatable warning contact, the airbag or another electrical device arranged on the steering wheel. Since the rotational movement of the warning contact is largely distributed over the individual windings of the spiral spring during the steering process, the relative movement of the individual sections of the spiral spring is comparatively small, i.e., the connecting wires are only subject to slight wear during the long service life of the vehicle.
One disadvantage of known spiral springs is that they are supplied by a special manufacturer in a separate housing, i.e., the spring housing must be connected (e.g., locked in place) to the housing of the steering column switch during the assembly of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to simplify the combination of the steering column switch and the electric connecting element that serves to connect the housing of the steering column switch to the electric device on the steering wheel and, in particular, to simplify the design as well as the assembly of the aforementioned combination.
The invention, in principle, consists of arranging the connecting element that is largely insensitive to a rotational movement of the electric device relative to the steering column switch as far as possible inside of the housing of the steering column switch. Due to this measure, a separate housing for the connecting element which subsequently must be connected to the housing of the steering column switch in an additional production step is eliminated. When assembling the steering column switch, the connecting element can be inserted into the steering column switch simultaneously with the individual components. According to the invention, a space that is open on one side is formed on the housing cover, the connecting element being inserted into this space and retained therein.
Although the invention can be used with all connecting elements that are directly installed into the housing of the steering column switch, a particular combination of characteristics is proposed for instances in which spiral springs are utilized. In this case, the spiral spring can be subsequently inserted into the receptacle of the switch housing. A particularly simple assembly is attained with the spiral spring being fastened to a cover that is locked together with the receptacle.
In order to protect the spiral spring from dirt and possible wear due to its contact with the steering column, an annular chamber is formed for the spiral spring, with the spiral spring being well protected from external influences inside of th
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Cristofaro Salvador
Hecht Walter
Klein Rudolf
Hayes Michael J.
ITT Automotive Europe GmbH
Lewis J. Gordon
McDermott Corrine
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