Clamping Device for a Longitudinally Adjustable and/or Height-Adjustable Steering Column of a Vehicle

• US 20150360712A1
• Filed: 01/22/2014
• Published: 12/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: TRW Automotive GmbH (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Grebe, Kai, Baumeister, Dirk, Loyen, Magnus
• Granted Patent: US 10,246,118 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/184 Mechanisms for locking columns at selected positions
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/185 adjustable by axial displacement, e.g. telescopically B62D1/183, B62D1/187, B62D1/19 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/19 incorporating energy-absorbing arrangements, e.g. by being yieldable or collapsible shock absorbers using plastic deformation of members in general F16F7/12
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 403/32008 Plural distinct articulation axes

Abstract

A clamping device for a longitudinally adjustable and/or height-adjustable steering column of a vehicle, having a device part and an actuating part which is movable relative to the device part between a release position, in which the steering column is longitudinally adjustable and/or height-adjustable, and a fixing position, in which the steering column is neither longitudinally adjustable nor height-adjustable, a damping unit being provided for damping a relative movement between the device part and the actuating part.

Claims

1. A clamping device for a longitudinally adjustable and/or height-adjustable steering column of a vehicle, comprising

a device part, and

an actuating part which is movable relative to the device part between a release position, in which the steering column is longitudinally adjustable and/or height-adjustable, and a fixing position, in which the steering column is neither longitudinally adjustable nor height-adjustable,

wherein a damping unit is provided for damping a relative movement between the device part and the actuating part.

2. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the damping unit damps the relative movement between the device part and the actuating part over substantially an entire path of the actuating part between the release position and the fixing position.

3. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the damping unit damps the relative movement between the device part and the actuating part, a path of the actuating part between the release position and the fixing position being divided into active damping sections and inactive damping sections.

4. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating part is adapted to swivel about an axis between the release position and the fixing position relative to the device part which is rotationally fixed with respect to the axis.

5. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the damping unit includes a first damping surface which is connected with the device part and arranged concentrically with an axis and a second damping surface which is connected with the actuating part and arranged concentrically with the axis,

the first and second damping surfaces being adjacent to each other at least in sections and being spaced apart from each other by a gap, and

a high-viscosity material being provided in the gap for damping the relative movement between the device part and the actuating part.

6. The clamping device according to claim 5, wherein the first and second damping surfaces are located on a lateral area of a circular cylinder.

7. The clamping device according to claim 5, wherein the device part is a ramp element, a radial outer face of the ramp element forming the first damping surface.

8. The clamping device according to any of claim 5, wherein the damping unit includes a ring having a surrounding annular wall, the ring being connected with the actuating part, and a radial inner face of the annular wall forming the second damping surface.

9. The clamping device according to claim 8, wherein the ring is connected with the actuating part with an interlocking fit in a circumferential direction.

10. The clamping device according to claim 9, wherein the ring is made from a plastic material.

11. The clamping device according to claim 8, wherein the ring is integrally integrated in the actuating part.

12. The clamping device according to claim 11, wherein the actuating part is a ramp element and is made from a sintered metal together with the integrally integrated ring.

13. The clamping device according to any of claim 8, wherein the ring and the actuating part form a pot-shaped holder for the high-viscosity material.

14. The clamping device according to any of claim 5, wherein the device part is a ramp element which includes a circular cylindrical recess concentric with the axis, a radial inner face of the device part being adjacent to the recess and forming the first damping surface.

15. The clamping device according to claim 14, wherein the actuating part includes a circular cylindrical extension, a radial outer face of the extension forming the second damping surface.

16. The clamping device according to claim 1, wherein the device part is a first ramp element that is rotationally fixed with respect to an axis and has first oblique surfaces, and the actuating part is a second ramp element that is adapted to swivel about the axis and has second oblique surfaces, the first and second ramp elements being urged in an axial direction against each other by at least one spring element, and, upon a relative rotation about the axis, the first oblique surfaces and the second oblique surfaces cooperating such that the first and second ramp elements move relative to each other also in the axial direction.