Steering column for a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10960917-B2
Application number	US-201816481932-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2018
Priority date	Feb 2, 2017
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

A steering shaft axially mounted rotatably in a shell and a guide part by which the shell is held. An energy absorption device arranged between the guide and shell has a bending wire coupled by a first end to the shell and a second end to the guide. A rail is attached to the shell. A pin is coupled to the guide. The second end of the bending wire has a coupling section that engages behind the pin and is braced at a support point on the side wall in the event of a crash and the support point is arranged on the side of the pin gripped by the coupling section. The pin has a first spacing from the side wall. A second spacing between the pin and the support point measured axially is at least 1.1 times the first spacing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A steering column for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a shell part,
a steering shaft including a longitudinal axis and is mounted rotatably in the shell part,
a guide part configured to hold the shell part,
an energy absorption device operatively disposed between the guide part and the shell part, the energy absorption device including:
a bending wire with a first end section and a second end section, the bending wire coupled to the shell part by the first end section and to the guide part by the second end section,

a rail attached by a side wall to the shell part, and
a pin coupled to the guide part,
wherein the second end section of the bending wire has a coupling section that engages behind the pin and is braced at least at a support point on the side wall in response to a crash, wherein the support point is arranged on the side of the pin that is gripped by the coupling section, and
wherein the pin has a first spacing from the side wall, while a second spacing between the pin and the support point measuring in the axial direction is at least 1.1 times the first spacing.

2. The steering column of claim 1 , comprising a toothed plate, the pin being connected to the toothed plate, the toothed plate configured to axially move with respect to the guide part and is configured to be axially arrestable by a locking device with respect to the guide part, so that under the action of axial forces arising in a crash an axial displacement of the shell part with respect to the toothed plate arrested on the guide part deforms the bending wire and a portion of kinetic energy generated in the crash is absorbed by the bending wire.

3. The steering column of claim 2 , the energy absorption device comprising at least two bending wires arranged axially one behind the other, the toothed plate comprising at least two radially projecting pins, a first pin being situated at an axial spacing from a second pin, and the second end sections of the at least two bending wires, which are respectively broadened at coupling sections, engage behind the respective pins and are braced against the side wall of the rail at a respective support point, and at least one of the two bending wires is configured to be deactivated by means of a switch.

4. The steering column of claim 3 , wherein at least one second pin of the toothed plate is configured as a sliding block and is received axially movably in a longitudinal groove of the toothed plate, wherein the axial displacement of the sliding block in the longitudinal groove is configured to be blocked by a bolt which is retractable by means of the switch.

5. The steering column of claim 3 , wherein the switch is a pyrotechnic switch.

6. The steering column of claim 1 , wherein the coupling section of the bending wire has a horn-shaped supporting section, whose free end is braced against the side wall of the rail at the support point.

7. The steering column of claim 6 , wherein the first protrusion of the shell part extends axially across a portion of the first end section, against which the protrusion lies, and a second protrusion and a third protrusion of the shell part are arranged opposite the first protrusion, the second protrusion and the third protrusion being arranged at an axial spacing with respect to each other.

Assignees

• Thyssenkrupp Presta Ag
• Thyssenkrupp Ag

Inventors

• Schnitzer Hieronymus
• Wiebe Richard
• Paltinisanu Ciprian

Classifications

• B62D1/185

  adjustable by axial displacement, e.g. telescopically (B62D1/183, B62D1/187, B62D1/19 take precedence) · CPC title

• B62D1/195 Primary

  Yieldable supports for the steering column · CPC title

• B62D1/192

  Yieldable or collapsible columns · CPC title

• B62D1/184

  Mechanisms for locking columns at selected positions · CPC title