Steering Column Rattle Mitigation via Sleeve Friction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle steering apparatuses face challenges in mitigating rattles and rattling sounds during steering wheel position adjustments, as current solutions require significant force to press a movable cam against a flexible tab, which can impede lever operation and insufficiently address noise issues.
Innovation Solution
A steering apparatus with a pivot lever, cam, sleeve, and rattle mitigating member, such as a ring spring or spring clip, that increases friction forces between the sleeve and cam or pivot lever, allowing for effective noise reduction without compromising lever operability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a flexible tab is used to generate friction force between the movable cam and fixed cam, then rattles and rattling sounds are mitigated, but the movable cam cannot be pressed against the flexible tab with sufficient load and the flexible tab may block the movement of the cam
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the flexible tab from the system and replaces it with a sleeve that has an enlarged portion. This enlarged portion of the sleeve contacts the movable cam and generates friction force without blocking cam movement, thus eliminating the operational interference while maintaining noise mitigation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the friction-generating element by using a sleeve with an enlarged portion instead of a flexible tab. This parameter change allows sufficient contact area for friction force generation while maintaining proper clearance for cam movement, resolving both noise and operability issues
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a large load is applied to press the movable cam against the flexible tab, then friction force is generated to mitigate rattles, but the lever operability is affected
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the flexible tab and uses a sleeve with an enlarged portion to generate friction force. This structural change allows the movable cam to be pressed against the sleeve with manageable load while maintaining effective friction force for noise mitigation without excessive force requirements
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively mitigates rattles and rattling sounds during steering wheel position adjustments, ensuring smooth operation and reduced noise without affecting the pivot lever's functionality.
Implementation Method 1
a rattle mitigating member that increases at least any one of the 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
Implementation Method 2
a pressing member that presses the sleeve against a sliding surface of the cam. According to the above-mentioned configuration, the friction force that acts on the sliding surface between the sleeve and the cam can be increased by the pressing member
Data Source
AI summary
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.