STEERING WHEEL ROD WITH SLIDING AND TILTING MOVEMENTS

Abstract: A steering wheel rod support for vehicles, which is designed in such a way, that it partly can be displaced a distance essentially in the longitudinal direction of the steering wheel rod (15) and partly can be tilted in a vertical plane about a transverse spindle (19), and which comprises fastening means (1), e.g. a stationary, stable box, by means of which the entire steering wheel rod support can be mounted in the vehicle, a bearing housing (2) for the steering wheel rod, lock plates (3) fastened in the bearing housing (2), lock means (4), which cooperates with the lock plates and is designed to lock the steering wheel rod support in an adjusted position, as well as actuation means (5) for the lock means, the lock plates (3) being able to be actuated by means of two cooperating, longitudinally directed pistons (20, 21), which are designed to be able to press the lock plates (3) against the sides (7) of the box (1) in order to obtain a friction locking between the lock plates (3) and the sides (7) of the box (1) and a locking of the steering wheel rod support and a release thereof respectively in order to obtain the desired adjustment being accomplished by means of a lever (25), which actuates the lock pistons (20, 21) as a double-armed lever arm.

Description: Steering wheel rod with sliding and tilting movements. The present invention relates to a steering wheel rod sup¬ port for vehicles, which support is designed partly to be displaced a distance in the axial direction of the stee¬ ring wheel rod and partly to be tilted about a transverse spindle (axis). Such steering wheel rod supports have to meet many diffe¬ rent requirements, which individually can be solved in different ways, but these solutions can be difficult to combine in the same steering wheel rod support. Besides the general requirement that a device of this type has to be simple and inexpensive to manufacture and mount in ve¬ hicles, the following illustrative requirements can be mentioned: - The steering wheel rod support must be stable and be able to resist all the stresses, which may materialize, without being damaged; - No plays whatsoever must be present; - Sliding and tilting movements must not seem flabby or sluggish and no other movements than the required move¬ ments must be possible; - The devices, which accomplish the sliding and tilting possibilities, must be placed in such a way, that they do not obstruct or interrupt other functions in the ve¬ hicle; - The lock devices for the sliding and tilting movements must be safe and efficient in order not to allow any un¬ intentional readjustments; - The lock devices for the sliding and tilting movements must be easily accessible and easy to actuate; and - The pivoting spindle for the tilting function must be located comparatively close to the steering wheel in or¬ der to give the steering wheel a pronounced angular change when a tilting takes place, etc. Many different constructions of slideable and tiltable steering wheel rod supports are known, all of which are burdened with deficiences or inconveniences in some re¬ spects. E.g. the French patent with publication number 2.360. 454 (Chrysler France) relates to a slidable and tilt- able steering wheel rod support, in which the tilting spindle is located at a comparatively large distance from the steering wheel, which results in that thestee¬ ring wheel, when a tilting is done, assumes a very small angular change, depending on the long pivoting radius between the steering wheel and the tilting spindle. Al¬ so, the lock blades, which necessarily are somewhat re¬ silient in order to obstruct the sliding and tilting movement, form mounting and suspension means for the en¬ tire steering wheel rod support in the car, which means that the support will be resilient and somewhat instable and can be experienced as unstable and resilient. Also, it may be difficult to carefully steer the sliding and tilting movements, and it is difficult and heavy to ac¬ tuate the lock devices of the slidable and tiltable steering wheel rod support and the required stable loc¬ king action is normally not obtained, and the steering wheel rod support jointly with the steering wheel might unintentionally.readjust while driving. German document 17 80 061, laid open to public inspec¬ tion (Daimler Benz), relates to a steering wheel rod support, which mainly has the same inconveniences as the known construction discussed above. The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problem of producing a steering wheel rod support, which is not burdened with the deficiences of the already known constructions and which fulfills the considerable requirements stated above for a steering wheel rod sup¬ port having a sliding and tilting function. In accordance with the present invention the steering wheel rod support comprises a fastening means, e.g. a stationary, stable box, by means of which the entire steering wheel rod support can be mounted in the ve¬ hicle, a bearing housing for the steering wheel rod, lock blades fastened to the bearing housing, a lock de¬ vice which cooperates with the lock blades and is de¬ signed to lock the steering wheel rod support in an ad¬ justed position, as well as an actuation device for said lock device. The bearing housing, jointly with the steering wheel rod, is, by means of sliding grooves or the like in the fastening means and in the friction blades, mounted in such a way, in the fastening device, that partly it can be displaced in a longitudinal direction and partly be tilted into any adjusted longitudinal position whatso¬ ever about a tilting link, which is located compara¬ tively close to the steering wheel. Through this constructive design the following advanta¬ ges are obtained: - Lateral forces and torsional moments are transmitted from the bearing housing to the fastening means or the box via said tilting link, consequently only insignifi¬ cantly via the lock blades. In this way the steering wheel rod will obtain a very good stability and freedom of play, when the mechanism is locked as well as when sliding and tilting adjustments are performed and : the mechanism is open; - Said tilting link can be located at a high level and close to the steering wheel, and yet no parts of the steering wheel rod support will have to be moved up¬ wards towards the steering wheel; - The lock devices can be located at a large distance from the tilting link of the bearing housing, the lock devices in this way fanctioning with a large lever arm; and - The lock devices can, in a simple way, be designed as a double-armed lever arm, which actuates two lock pis¬ tons, which actuate said blades and fastening devices, having a large lever arm and with a very minor friction. The present invention will now be described in more de¬ tail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which show two exemplifying embodiments of the steering wheel rod support according to the invention. The shown and described embodiments are of course not limiting, but several variations and modifications are possible within the scope as defined by the attached patent claims, In the drawings Figure 1 shows in fragments one embodi¬ ment of a steering wheel rod support according to the in¬ vention, seen obliquely, from above and in a lateral view. Figure 2 shows the same device, seen from above and from the front, and Figure 3 shows this device in a lateral view. Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, seen in a perspective view, obliquely from below. Figure 5 shows the device in Figure 4 seen from that end which faces the steering wheel, and Fi¬ gure 6 shows the same device in a lateral view. The steering wheel rod support, shown in fragments in Fi¬ gures 1, 2 and 3, generally comprises stationarily moun¬ ted or mountable fastening means 1, which is called a box, a bearing housing 2 for the steering wheel rod, elongated lock plates 3, which are fastened to bearing housing 2 and projected from the same, lock means 4, fas¬ tened to the outer ends of said lock plates, and actua¬ tion means 5 for said lock means. The stationary or stationarily mounted box can be de¬ signed as a turned U-shaped bracket having webs and legs, but it is shown in Figures 1-3 designed as two separate L-shaped angle bars, foot 6 on the bar being designed to be screwed or in another way fastened to the bottom side of some supporting part of the vehicle, and bar 7 of said L-bar forms mounting bars for the active parts of the steering wheel bar support. For this reason each mounting bar 7 is designed with two elongated slots 8 and 9, clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3, which slots in this case extend at somewhat different levels in the bar and overlap each other. On the exterior side said slots are connected to V-shaped sliding grooves 10 and 11 res¬ pectively, which are designed to cooperate with friction reducing sliding bodies 12. Bearing housing 2 forms a solid blade support 13, in which a steering wheel rod tube 14 is fastened. A stee¬ ring wheel rod 15 extends through wheel rod tube 14 and through blade support 13 and is rotatably but axially non-movably mounted, in a way known per se, in said parts. In its upper part wheel rod 15 is provided with splines 16 in order to attach- a steering wheel and in its lower end it is provided with splines 17 in order to at- tach a universal joint (not shown) and other means de¬ signed to transmit the steering wheel movements to the steering system of the vehicle. On each side of blade support 13 lock plates 3 are fas¬ tened, which project in the longitudinal direction of the device a small distance from said blade support. In the case shown there are two lock blades on each side, and in a few places spacers, e.g. washers, are mounted between said plates. Adjacent to its outer ends lock plates 3 are provided with arched slots 18, designed to tilt said wheel rod support about a spindle 19, which extends through bearing housing 13 and through one of said longitudinal slots 8 in said mounting bars 7. Be¬ aring body 13, with its lock plates 3, is designed to be, by means of spindle 19, fastened, having a slight slip fit, between mounting bars 7, facilitated by sli¬ ding bodies 12, and outer nuts. In order to lock the mechanism there are provided two sleeve-shaped pistons 20 and 21, which are retained by a bolt 22, which extends through pistons 20,21, through lock plates 3 and through mounting bars 7 and are locked on the exterior side of the latter by means of sliding bodies 12 and nuts. Said pistons are provided with wedge-shaped points 23,24, which in the shown case are directed essentially in a vertical direction, and said points are placed somewhat eccentrically on each side of the center of said pistons, in order to function as working surfaces for a flat lever, by means of which pistons 20 and 21 can be pressed apart. The pistons are freely displaceable on bolt 22 and abut, each one with a plane surface, the respective plate pacakge 3. •Actuation means 5 for pistons 20 and 21 comprises an actuation lever 25, functioning as a lever arm, which in its outer end is designed to cooperate with wedge-sur¬ faces 23,24 of said pistons and which with its opposite end is attached to a hydraulical, pneumatic or electric power motor 26 having a connection 27 for a pressure me¬ dium or electric current. Lever 25 is by means of motor ' 26 spring-loaded in a locking direction, said lever in an unactuated condition pressing lock pistons 20 and 21 apart and in this way locking blades 3 against mounting bars 7. Motor 26 can for this purpose be designed with an interior spring, the spring power of which is suffi¬ cient to keep said steering wheel rod support locked. In order to disengage the mechanism the power of the spring must be overcome by being actuated by motor 26, lever 25 unloading piston pair 20,21, thus disengaging lock plates 3 from mounting bars 7 of the box. Then the stee¬ ring wheel rod support can be displaced longitudinally in slots 8 and 9 and simultaneously be tilted in slots 18 in blades 3 about spindle 19 through bearing hou¬ sing 2. The embodiment according to Figures 4-6 is only different as to details from the embodiment described above. It is clearly shown in Figure 5, that stationary box 1 in this embodiment mainly is turned U-shaped, web 6' being de¬ signed to be screwed or in another way fastened statio¬ narily to the vehicle. On the interior side of each one of sides 7' of box 1 longitudinal guide rails 28 are pro¬ vided in order to longitudinally guide a central inter¬ mediary portion 29 in the device. In one place".each one of sides 7' of the box is designed with longitudinal slots 9, in which through lock bolt 22 for lock plates 3 is displaceable. Central intermediary portion 29 forms a continuous bo¬ dy, which with its upper part extends into bearinghou¬ sing 2' and is mounted about a transverse spindle 19', above which bearing housing 2' and its lock plates 3 and consequently also the steering wheel rod and its stee¬ ring wheel can be tilted or pivoted in a vertical plane. In a lower portion intermediate portion 29 is designed with a piston guide 30, in which lock pistons 20 ,21 are " guided. Pistons 20,21 are also in this embodiment designed with actuation edges, which make lever 25 function as a double-armed lever arm during a pivoting while being ac¬ tuated by prestressing pistons 31. Motor 26 retracts the corresponding end of lever 25 and consequently a release of pistons 20,21 and a detachment of lock plates 3, it being possible to displace bearing housing 2' together with the steering wheel rod and the lock plates longitudi¬ nally through a sliding in slot 9' as well as to pivot them in slots 18 about pivot spindle 19'. About the same axis as tilting spindle 19' a merely frag- mentarily shown joint coupling of steering wheel rod 15 can be pivoted. Steering wheel rod 15 is axially fastened in bearing housing 2' , but it can be displaced axially jointly with blade support 13, lock blades 3 and central intermediary portion 29. The two sets of lock plates 3, fastened in blade support 13, abut interior sides 7' of box 1 and are pressed against the same by means of spring-actuated pistons 20, 21. The distance between tilting spindle 19' and the steering wheel is so small, that a substantial angular change of the steering wheel is obtained, when there is a tilting up or down about spindle 19' , the arched blade slots 18 being used as limits. At the same time the dis- ance between tilting spindle 19' and the arched slots 18 in the lock plates is sufficiently large to allow such a moment arm, that no particularly large forces are needed to lock lock plates 3 against sides 7' of the box in order to prevent an unintentional tilting of the stee¬ ring wheel. Consequently, in many instances it may be sufficient to use just one lock blade on each side of the box. If required, the number of lock blades can of course be doubled or multiplied and the interior side of the box be designed with a correspondingly larger number of interaction surfaces, which can be interleaved with the lock blades in order to increase the number of fric¬ tion surfaces between the blades and the box. Plain wash¬ ers about lock bolt 22 can, when placed between double lock blades, function as additional friction surfaces in order to increase the tilting locking. In order to prevent the steering wheel from suddenly fal¬ ling downwards, when lever 25 is actuated and lock blades 3 are disengaged from the stationary box, there are pro¬ vided two detent springs 32 on the lower side between central intermediary portion 29 and blade support 13. Said springs are only designed, when the lock blades are disengaged, to counteract, but not prevent, a til¬ ting down of the steering wheel and to facilitate a tilting up of the steering wheel. The two described devices function, when the steering wheel position is to be adjusted, in such a way, that lever 25 is actuated, manually or by means of the shown motor 26, it being possible to partly displace blade support 13 and its lock blades 3, steering wheel rod and the steering wheel, while steering, in the longitudinal di¬ rection of box 1 by means of making lock bolt 22 and spindle 19 and lock bolt 22 and central intermediary por¬ tion 29 respectively slide in longitudinal slots 8,9 and 8' ,9' respectively and to partly tilt them in a vertical plane by means of pivoting blade support 13 about the transverse tilting spindle 19 and 19' respectively and pivoting blades 3 in relation to sides 7 and 7' respec¬ tively of the box and lock bolt 22, in cooperation with arched slots 18 in the blades. When the desired length and tilting position has been reached, motor 26 will be deactivated and lever 25 will press, actuated by its pre- stressing springs, piston pairs 20,21 outwards from each other, blades 3 then being locked against sides 7 and 7' respectively of the box between pistons 20 and 21 and lock bolt 22, and the steering wheel has in this way reached a most stable position without any play. Lock blades can of course in an alternative embodiment be placed on the exterior sides of the box, it being pos¬ sible, provided box 1 is designed and the fastening in the vehicle is done in a particular way, to pivot the steering wheel upwards as well as downwards a conside¬ rable distance. In order to lock the mechanism lever 25, with its prestressing springs, then has to be designed with a reversed function as compared to what has been described above. Also, lock bolt 22 must in this way be designed in two parts and lever 25 be designed to, when a locking is to be attained, pull the two lock bolt parts against each other and consequently lock blades 3 against box sides 7 and 7 * respectively. , Reference numerals 1 fastening means, box 2 bearing housing 3 lock plates 4 lock means 5 actuation means ( for 4 ) 6 foot (on 1) 7 mounting bar (on 1) 8 slot (in 7) 9 slot (in 7) 10 V-groove ( in 7 ) 11 V-groove (in 7) 12 sliding body 13 blade support 14 steering wheel rod tube 15 steering wheel rod 16 splines (in 15) 17 splines (in 15) 18 arched slot (in 3) 19 spindle (axis) 20 piston 21 piston 22 bolt 23 point (of 20) 24 point (of 21) 25 lever 26 motor 27 connection 28 guide rail 29 intermediate portion 30 piston guide 31 springs 32 detent springs

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS: 1. A steering wheel rod support for vehicles, which is designed in such a way that it partly can be displaced a distance in the longitudinal direction of the steering wheel rod (15), partly also can be tilted about a trans¬ verse axis (19; 19') and which comprises fastening means (1), e.g. a stationary, stable box, by means of which the entire steering wheel rod support can be mounted in the vehicle, a bearing housing (2; 2') for the steering wheel rod (15), lock plates (3) fastened in the bearing housing (2;2'), lock means (4), which cooperate with the lock plates, designed to lock the steering wheel rod sup¬ port in an adjusted position, as well as actuation means ( 5) for the lock means, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said lock plates ( 3 ) can be actuated by means of two cooperating transverse pistons (20,21), which are designed to press the lock plates (3) against the sides (7;7') of the box (1) in order to obtain a friction loc¬ king between the lock plates (3) and the sides (7;7') of the box ( 1) . 2. A steering wheel rod support according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said lock plates (3) are fastened to the bearing housing (2;2') and in that the lock plates (3), adjacent to their outer ends, are designed with arched slots ( 18 ) , through which a lock bolt (22) extends and which allow a tilting of bearing housing(2;2' ) , the steering wheel rod (15) and the stee¬ ring wheel being located a certain distance upwards and downwards respectively about the tilting axis (19; 19') of the bearing housing (2;2'). 3. A steering wheel rod support according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the stationary box (1) is designed with longitudinal slots (8,9) or guide rails (8',9), in which the bearing housing (2,2') or a part attached to the same can be displaced forwards and backwards, and in that the lock plates (3) and the sides (7;7') of the box (1) are designed to, in a normal non-actuated condition, be pressed to lockingly engage each other by means of a lock bolt (22), which is guided in grooves in the lock plates (3) and in the sides (7; 7') of the box (1), the lock pistons (20,21) being sli¬ dable on the lock bolt (22), which extends through the arched slots (18) of the lock plates (3). 4. A steering wheel rod support according to claim 1, 2 or 3, the lock plates (3) being placed on the interior sides (7;7') of the box (1), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the transverse pistons (20,21) are designed to be actuated in a direction away from each other in order to obtain a locking of the plates (3) against the sides (7; 7') of the box, by means of a force-actuated, longitudi¬ nal lever (25), which functions as a double-armed lever arm against the pistons (20,21). 5. A steering wheel rod support according to claims 1 and 2, the lock plates (3) being placed on the exterior sides (7;7') of the box (1), c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lock bolt (22) for the plates (3) is divided and in that the pistons(20,21) as well as the two lock bolt parts are designed to be pressed against each other in order to obtain a locking of the plates (3) against the sides (7) of the box by means of a pulling, force- actuated lever. 6. A steering wheel rod support according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that it comprises two sets of a plurality of cooperating lock plates (3 ) , washers being provided between each lock plate-pair. 7. A steering wheel rod support according to claims 1 and 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the lock pis¬ tons (20 ,21) are designed with wedge-shaped points (23, 24 ) , which are placed somewhat eccentrically on each side of the center of the pistons, and in that said lever (25) has a flat cross section, is placed between the lock pis¬ tons and engages their wedge-shaped points (23,24). 8. A steering wheel rod support according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the bearing housing (2'), with its lock plates (3), is, at its end which faces the steering wheel, pivotally con¬ nected (19') to a central intermediate portion (29), which can be longitudinally displaced in guide rails (28), disposed on the interior sides (7") of the box (1), and in that the bearing housing (2'), with its lock plates ( 3 ) , can be locked against being longitudinally displaced as well as being tilted by means of the spin¬ dle (22), which extends through the blades (3) and the lock pistons (20,21). (Figures 4-6) 9. A steering wheel rod support according to claim 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that between the central intermediate portion (29) and the bearing housing (2') there is one or a plurality of detent springs (32), which are placed on a level below the tilting spindle (19') and designed to prevent the steering wheel from ' falling, when the locking between the lock plates (3) and the box (1) is released.

Inventors: STROEMBERG KURT, STROEMBERG, KURT
Applicants: FFV AUTOTECH AB
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B62D1
IPC codes: B62D1