Tilt Apparatus With Segmented Gears For Steering Column Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicular steering columns experience instability and potential damage due to the tooth-on-tooth phenomenon between gears during tilt operations, leading to compromised driver comfort and safety, especially in the event of a collision.
Innovation Solution
A tilt apparatus for the steering column featuring a fixed gear with elastic properties, spaced apart from the tilt bracket, and a movable gear with screw portions that engage and disengage to prevent gear peak collision, ensuring stable locking and operation even during external impacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the fixed gear is installed directly on the tilt bracket, then the structure is simple, but the steering column becomes unstable due to tooth-on-tooth phenomenon between gears
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the gear assembly into separate components: a movable gear and a fixed gear, positioned at different locations. The movable gear is installed on the tilt bracket while the fixed gear is positioned separately, preventing direct tooth-on-tooth engagement and eliminating the instability issue while maintaining structural simplicity.
2Reliability
If the gears are meshed tightly for stable locking, then the locking reliability is improved, but the lever operation feeling deteriorates due to tooth-on-tooth phenomenon
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the movable gear acts as a mediator between the tilt bracket and the fixed gear. This allows the system to achieve stable locking through the interaction of gear teeth while preventing direct peak-to-peak engagement that would deteriorate lever operation feeling.
3Device complexity
If conventional gear locking is used, then the device complexity is low, but the driver safety is compromised during vehicle collision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the gear locking system into movable and fixed components positioned at different locations. This segmentation prevents the tooth-on-tooth phenomenon that causes instability during collisions, thereby improving driver safety while maintaining relatively simple device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent positions the movable gear and fixed gear such that they do not engage directly under normal conditions. This pre-configured arrangement cushions against the harmful effects of impact forces during collisions, preventing the steering column from popping up and ensuring driver safety before such events occur.
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 provides a stable lever operation feeling and prevents the steering column from popping up during collisions, ensuring driver safety by utilizing the elastic force of the fixed gear to maintain locking and stability.
Implementation Method 1
a driver can be provided with a stable lever operation feeling by the elastic force of the fixed gear
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments disclosed herein provide a tilt apparatus for a vehicular steering column. The tilt apparatus includes: a tilt bracket including a tilt guide portion supported on an outer side of a distance bracket and having a first tilt hole in the tilt guide portion; a fixed gear including a second tilt hole communicating with the first tilt hole and a first screw portion having a thread peak and a thread valley on opposite side ends thereof, the fixed gear being installed outside the tilt guide portion and the first screw portion being spaced apart from the tilt guide portion; a movable gear including a second screw portion having a thread peak and a thread valley to be meshed with or separated from the first screw portion during a tilt operation of an adjusting lever; and a lever bolt configured to rotate in cooperation with the adjusting lever and installed through the first tilt hole, the second tilt hole, and the movable gear.