Steering apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9446780-B2
Application number	US-201514654496-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2015
Priority date	Jul 25, 2014
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

A steering apparatus capable of easily and sufficiently mitigating rattles and rattling sounds during a positional adjustment of a steering wheel without affecting the operability of a pivot lever is provided.
A steering apparatus 1 can move a column 20 that holds a shaft of a steering wheel H with respect to a vehicle body to adjust a tilt position and a telescopic position of the steering wheel H. The steering apparatus 1 includes: a pivot lever 123 for unclamping and unclamping the column 20 with respect to the vehicle body; a movable cam 121 and a fixed cam 120 that clamp and unclamp the column 20 by changing a turn of the pivot lever 123 into an axial movement of said turn; a sleeve 122 that holds the movable cam 121 and slides against the movable cam 121 when the pivot lever 123 is turned; and a ring spring 125 that presses the sleeve 122 against the sliding surface of the movable cam 121.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A steering apparatus that is capable of adjusting a position of a steering wheel by moving a column that holds a shaft of the steering wheel with respect to a vehicle body, the steering apparatus comprising:
a pivot lever for clamping and unclamping the column with respect to the vehicle body;
a cam that clamps and unclamps the column by changing a turn of the pivot lever into an axial movement of said turn;
a sleeve that holds the cam and slides against the cam when the pivot lever is turned; and
a rattle mitigating member that increases at least any one of friction forces from among a friction force generated between the sleeve and a sliding surface of the cam or a friction force generated between the sleeve and the pivot lever.

2. A steering apparatus that is capable of adjusting a position of a steering wheel by moving a column that holds a shaft of the steering wheel with respect to a vehicle body, the steering apparatus comprising:
a pivot lever for clamping and unclamping the column with respect to the vehicle body;
a cam that clamps and unclamps the column by changing a turn of the pivot lever into an axial movement of said turn;
a sleeve that holds the cam and slides against the cam when the pivot lever is turned; and
a pressing member that presses the sleeve against a sliding surface of the cam.

3. The steering apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the cam includes a movable cam that rotates together with the pivot lever and a fixed cam that moves in the axial direction due to a rotation of the movable cam, wherein the sleeve slides against the movable cam, and wherein the pressing member presses the sleeve against the sliding surface of the movable cam.

4. The steering apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the sleeve is formed in an annular shape that receives the movable cam at an inner side, and wherein the pressing member is attached to an outer peripheral surface of the sleeve.

5. The steering apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4 , wherein grease is applied to the sliding surface between the sleeve and the cam.

6. The steering apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4 , wherein the sleeve is provided with a sliding part that slides against the pivot lever or an intervening member intervened between the pivot lever and the sleeve.

7. The steering apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the pivot lever or the intervening member has a disk-shaped part, and wherein the sliding part has an arc-shaped groove in which the disk-shaped part is fitted therein.

8. The steering apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein grease is applied to the sliding part.

9. The steering apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4 , wherein the pressing member is an elastic member.

10. A steering apparatus that is capable of adjusting a position of a steering wheel by moving a column that holds a shaft of the steering wheel with respect to a vehicle body, the steering apparatus comprising:
a pivot lever for clamping and unclamping the column with respect to the vehicle body;
a cam that clamps and unclamps the column by changing a turn of the pivot lever into an axial movement of said turn; and
a sleeve that holds the cam and slides against the cam when the pivot lever is turned,
wherein the sleeve includes a sliding part that slides while a part of the pivot lever or an intervening member intervened between the pivot lever and the sleeve is fitted therein, and
wherein the sliding part is attached with a gripping member that increases a friction force between the sliding part and the pivot lever or the intervening member by pinching the sliding part from the outer side.

11. The steering apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the pivot lever or the intervening member has a disk-shaped part, and wherein the sliding part is formed in an arc shape along a circumferential direction of the disk-shaped part.

12. The steering apparatus according to claim 10 or 11 , wherein grease is applied to the sliding part.

13. The steering apparatus according to claim 10 or 11 , wherein the gripping member is an elastic member.

Assignees

• Nsk Ltd

Inventors

• Yamada Jun

Classifications

• B62D1/187

  with tilt adjustment; with tilt and axial adjustment (B62D1/183, B62D1/19 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B62D1/184 Primary

  Mechanisms for locking columns at selected positions · CPC title