Impact force relieving structure in steering device of car
A steering device ( 20 ) for an automobile ( 1 ) comprises a steering shaft ( 23 ) supporting a steering wheel ( 24 ), a steering gear device ( 26 ) disposed rearwardly of the lower end of the steering shaft ( 23 ), and an operative connection gear device ( 28 ) disposed forwardly of the steering gear device ( 26 ), supported by the car body ( 2 ) through a bracket ( 27 ) and adapted to operatively connect the steering gear device ( 26 ) to the lower end of the steering shaft ( 23 ). The bracket ( 27 ) comprises a front frame ( 36 ) constituting the front of the bracket ( 27 ) and supported at the front end thereof by the car body ( 2 ), the rear side thereof extending rearwardly downward, and a rear frame ( 38 ) constituting the rear of the bracket ( 27 ) and rearwardly extending from the rear end of the front frame ( 36 ), the rear end thereof being supported by the car body ( 2 ), with the operative connection gear device ( 28 ) being supported by the rear frame ( 38 ). When the automobile ( 1 ) comes into primary collision to deform the bracket ( 27 ), the front frame ( 36 ) of the bracket ( 27 ) is bent with respect to the rear frame ( 38 ) so as to assume a vertical attitude.
1. In an automobile steering device comprising a steering shaft ( 23 ) disposed in the front of the car interior ( 4 ) and supported by the car body ( 2 ) for rotation around its own axis ( 21 ) extending rearwardly upward, and supporting a steering wheel ( 24 ) on the upper end thereof, a steering gear device ( 26 ) disposed rearwardly of the lower end of said steering shaft ( 23 ), supported by said car body ( 2 ) and operatively connected to right and left steering-purpose wheels, and an operative connection gear device ( 28 ) disposed forwardly of said steering gear device ( 26 ), supported by the car body ( 2 ) through a bracket ( 27 ) and adapted to operatively connect said steering gear device ( 26 ) to the lower end of said steering shaft ( 23 ),
wherein said operative connection gear device ( 28 ) comprises a gear case ( 43 ) constituting the outer shell thereof and supported by said rear frame ( 38 ), an input gear ( 44 ) housed in the gear case ( 43 ) and operatively connected to the lower end of the steering shaft ( 23 ), and an output gear ( 45 ) housed in the gear case ( 43 ) and meshing with said input gear ( 44 ), a universal joint shaft ( 32 ) for operatively connecting said steering gear device ( 26 ) to said output gear ( 45 ) is provided;
a shock mitigating structure for an automobile steering device, characterized in that said bracket ( 27 ) comprises a front frame ( 36 ) constituting the front of the bracket ( 27 ) and supported at the front end thereof by said car body ( 2 ), the rear side thereof extending downwardly rearward, and a rear frame ( 38 ) constituting the rear of said bracket ( 27 ) and rearwardly extending from the rear end of said front frame ( 36 ), the rear end thereof being supported by said car body ( 2 ), with said operative connection gear device ( 28 ) being supported by the rear frame ( 38 ); and
further characterized in that the axes ( 47 , 48 ) of said output gear ( 45 ) and universal joint shaft ( 32 ) cross each other in a V-shape manner as seen in a side view of the car body ( 2 ), and said universal joint shaft ( 32 ) is disposed to extend rearwardly upward.
2. A shock mitigating structure for an automobile steering device, as set forth in claim 1 , characterized in that a dropout accelerating means ( 50 ) is provided for accelerating dropout of the rear end of the bracket ( 27 ) from said car body ( 2 ) when an external force of more than a predetermined value is applied to the bracket ( 27 ) from ahead.