STEERING COLUMN FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

A steering column for a motor vehicle may comprise a guide box in which a steering spindle is mounted so as to be rotatable about a longitudinal axis and which guide box is adjustably held by a support unit that is able to be connected to the body of the motor vehicle, a pivot bearing in which the guide box in a front region is mounted so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis that lies horizontally so as to be transverse to the longitudinal axis, and an actuation lever that is mounted in a first lever bearing in a rear region of the guide box and in a second lever bearing of the support unit. To increase stiffness and resonance frequency, the pivot bearing may be mounted so as to be displaceable transversely to the pivot axis in a displacement plane parallel to the longitudinal axis.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A steering column for a motor vehicle comprising: a guide box in which a steering spindle is rotatably mounted about a longitudinal axis; a support unit that adjustably holds the guide box and is connectable to a body of the motor vehicle; a pivot bearing in which the guide box in a front region is mounted so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis that lies horizontally so as to be transverse to the longitudinal axis, wherein the pivot bearing is mounted so as to be displaceable transversely to the pivot axis in a displacement plane parallel to the longitudinal axis; and an actuation lever that is mounted in a first lever bearing in a rear region of the guide box and in a second lever bearing on the support unit.

12. The steering column of claim 11 wherein the pivot bearing includes a bearing element that is guided so as to be displaceable relative to at least one of the support unit or the guide box, wherein a bearing pin of the pivot bearing is rotatably mounted in the bearing element.

13. The steering column of claim 12 wherein friction faces that slide on one another are configured on the bearing element and on at least one of the support unit or the guide box.

14. The steering column of claim 13 wherein the friction faces are disposed in a wedge-shaped manner.

15. The steering column of claim 14 wherein a first of the friction faces disposed on the bearing element is configured in a shape of a conical shell so as to be coaxial with the pivot axis, wherein a second of the friction faces disposed on at least one of the support unit or the guide box is configured on a longitudinal side of an elongate compensation opening.

16. The steering column of claim 15 wherein the first and second of the friction faces are arranged as a pair along a longitudinal periphery of the elongate compensation opening.

17. The steering column of claim 11 wherein a bearing pin that penetrates the bearing element is fixed so as to be translatory relative to the guide box.

18. The steering column of claim 12 wherein the bearing element includes a supporting element that projects transversely to the pivot axis.

19. The steering column of claim 12 wherein the bearing element is configured from plastic.

20. The steering column of claim 11 comprising a motorized adjustment drive that engages on the actuation lever.

21. The steering column of claim 11 wherein the guide box on the support unit is held between two lateral flanges that project vertically downward parallel to a displacement plane, wherein each of the two lateral flanges includes a pivot bearing.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Advantageous embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail hereunder by means of the drawings in which:

[0030] FIG. 1 shows a steering column according to the invention in a lateral view;

[0031] FIG. 2 shows the guide box of the steering column according to FIG. 1;

[0032] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detailed view of FIG. 1 in the region of the pivot bearing;

[0033] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view A-A through the pivot bearing according to FIG. 3;

[0034] FIG. 5 shows a bearing element according to the invention of the steering column according to FIGS. 1 to 4, in a lateral view in the direction of the pivot axis;

[0035] FIG. 6 shows the bearing element according to FIG. 5 in a front view, transversely to the pivot axis; and

[0036] FIG. 7 shows the support unit of the steering column according to FIGS. 1 to 4.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0037] Identical parts are always provided with the same reference sign in the various figures and are therefore typically also identified or mentioned only once in each case.

[0038] FIG. 1 in a lateral view shows a steering column 1 according to the invention, having a support unit 2, also referred to as a console, which, in the illustration shown by way of the upper side of said support unit 2, is able to be fixedly established on a body, not illustrated, of a motor vehicle, and on which a guide box 3 is adjustably held.

[0039] A steering spindle 31 is mounted in the guide box 3 and in a casing tube 32 so as to be rotatable about a longitudinal axis L and, at the end of said steering spindle 31, which in terms of the travel direction is the rear end, has a fastening portion 33 for attaching a steering wheel that is not illustrated. The casing tube 32 is held in the guide box 3 so as to be telescopically adjustable in the direction of the longitudinal axis L, as a result of which a longitudinal adjustment of the steering wheel is enabled.

[0040] The support unit 2 is configured so as to be U-shaped in the cross section, having two lateral flanges 21 which are mutually opposite in relation to the longitudinal axis L and between which the guide box 3 is received.

[0041] In the front region, the guide box 3 is mounted in a pivot bearing 4 about a pivot axis S on the support unit 2, said pivot axis S being horizontal so as to be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L and in FIG. 1 is oriented so as to be perpendicular to the drawing plane.

[0042] An actuation lever 5 which is mounted on the guide box 3 so as to be pivotable about a first lever axle 51 of a first lever bearing, and on the support unit 2 so as to be pivotable about a second lever axle 52 of a second lever bearing, is disposed in the rear region. The lever axles 51 and 52 lie so as to be parallel to the pivot axis S and have a mutual spacing of the lever length r.

[0043] The actuation lever 5 can be pivoted in the lever bearings 51 and 52 by means of an adjustment drive 6 which is configured as a spindle mechanism which can be driven in a motorized manner and which by way of one end thereof engages on a counter bearing 34 on the guide box 3, and by way of the other end thereof engages on the actuation lever 5, as a result of which the fastening portion 33 for adjusting the height can be adjusted vertically in an upward and downward manner in the height direction H. As a result, the guide box 3 is rotated about the pivot axis S, wherein the pivot bearing 4, by virtue of the spacing between the pivot axis S and the second lever axle 52, is moved a translatory relative to the support unit 2, as is indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1.

[0044] The guide box 3 is individually shown in FIG. 2. The disposal of the pivot axis S relative to the second lever axle 52 can be seen here. The guide box 3 has a threaded bore 35 which is coaxial with the pivot axis.

[0045] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged fragment from FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows a vertical section A-A through the pivot axis S in a view from the rear. The pivot bearing 4 illustrated here comprises a bearing pin 41 which is disposed so as to be coaxial with the pivot axis S and is screwed into the threaded bore 35 of the guide box 3. The bearing pin 41 penetrates an elongate compensation opening 22 of the support unit 2, said compensation opening 22 being configured in the lateral flange 21. The compensation opening 22 in the predefined displacement direction, for example in the direction of an imaginary connecting line between the pivot axis S and the second lever axle 52, extends longitudinally along the steering column 1, as can be derived from the individual illustration of the support unit 2 in FIG. 7.

[0046] The bearing pin 41 in a bearing element 42 according to the invention is rotatably mounted in a bearing bore 43 which is coaxial with the pivot axis S.

[0047] The bearing element 42 has a conical appendage which is coaxial with the bearing bore 43 and has a friction face 44 in the shape of a conical shell, as can be derived from FIGS. 5 and 6 which show the bearing element 42 in a view in the direction of the pivot axis S (FIG. 5) and transversely to the latter (FIG. 6).

[0048] The bearing element 42 by way of the conical friction face 44 lies against friction faces 23 on the external side of a lateral flange 21 of the support unit 2, said friction faces 23 being configured in the direction of the longitudinal extent on the peripheries of the compensation opening 22 and being mutually wedge-shaped, as can be seen in FIG. 4. The angle of the wedge between the friction faces 23 here corresponds substantially to the cone angle of the friction face 44. As a result, a friction guide in which the bearing element 42 can move in a translatory manner relative to the support unit 2 is formed in the displacement direction, as is indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3. As a result, a compensation movement for compensating the translatory relative movement of the pivot axis S relative to the second lever axle 52 during the height adjustment is possible.

[0049] The bearing element 42 has a bracket-shaped supporting element 45 which projects laterally in terms of the bearing bore 43 and which encompasses the external edge of the lateral flange 21, as can be seen in FIG. 4. The supporting element 45 is elastic so that the bearing element 42 can be snap-fitted and held in the compensation opening 23. In the assembled state, the supporting element 45 in the displacement direction can slide relative to the lateral flange 21, herein securing the bearing element 42 against rotation.

[0050] The bearing opening 43 of the bearing element 42 can be open toward the outside by way of a slot 46, as a result of which the friction face 44 in the shape of a conical shell can radially expand and, as a result thereof, be brought to frictionally contact the friction faces 23 in an optimal manner.

[0051] The bearing element 42 can preferably be integrally configured as an injection-molded plastic part. Alternatively, the bearing element 42 can also be formed from a metallic material, for example from a non-ferrous metal.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0052] 1 Steering column [0053] 2 Support unit [0054] 21 Lateral flange [0055] 22 Compensation opening [0056] 23 Friction faces [0057] 3 Guide box [0058] 31 Steering spindle [0059] 32 Casing tube [0060] 33 Fastening portion [0061] 34 Counter bearing [0062] 35 Threaded bore [0063] 4 Pivot bearing [0064] 41 Bearing pin [0065] 42 Bearing element [0066] 43 Bearing bore [0067] 44 Friction face [0068] 45 Supporting element [0069] 46 Slot [0070] 5 Actuation lever [0071] 51, 52 Lever axle [0072] 6 Adjustment drive [0073] L Longitudinal axis [0074] S Pivot axis [0075] H Height direction