CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0096250, filed on Aug. 7, 2019 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a universal joint assembly, and more particularly to a universal joint assembly capable of preventing a steering column from being misassembled for improving safety and reliability.

BACKGROUND

In general, a steering system of a vehicle includes a steering wheel, a steering column rotating by the steering wheel, a steering gear to convert a rotational motion of the steering column into a linear motion to be transmitted to a tie-rod, and a steering joint linking the steering column with the steering gear.

The steering joint includes a universal joint, so yokes are provided at opposite ends of the steering joint. The yoke provided at one end of the steering joint is coupled to the steering column, and the yoke provided at an opposite end of the steering joint is coupled to the shaft of the steering gear.

The yoke has a serration hole and a bolt-hole, and the bolt-hole is formed to communicate with the serration hole to be perpendicular to the serration hole.

The end portion of the steering column is inserted into the serration hole, and a serration engaged with the serration hole and a bolt receiving groove recessed in the concave shape are formed along the outer circumferential surface of the end portion of the steering column.

The assembling process between the steering column and the yoke is completed by assembling a bolt with a bolt-hole of the yoke in the state that the end portion of the steering column is inserted to the end of the serration hole of the yoke.

In other words, when the bolt is coupled to the bolt-hole of the yoke in the state that the end portion of the steering column is inserted into the serration hole of the yoke, as the bolt is received in the bot receiving groove of the steering column, the steering column is prevented from being separated from the serration hole, thereby completing the assembling between the steering column and the yoke.

However, when the bolt is coupled to the bolt-hole of the yoke in the state that the end portion of the steering column is not inserted till the end of the serration hole of the yoke due to the carelessness of a worker, the bolt may not be locked into the bolt receiving groove of the steering column, so the steering column may be separated from the serration hole. When the steering column is separated from the serration hole110during driving, it becomes difficult to transmit the steering force through the steering joint, so the serious accident may occur.

Accordingly, recently, various studies and researches have been performed to improve the safety and the reliability while preventing the steering column from being misassembled, but are still insufficient. Accordingly, the studies and researches have to be further developed.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and should not be taken as acknowledgement that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art while advantages achieved by the prior art are maintained intact.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a universal joint assembly may prevent a misassembly of a steering column for improving safety and reliability.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to prevent a new steering column from being misassembled when replacing an old steering column.

In addition, another aspect of the present disclosure is to simplify the structure and improve the space efficiency and the design freedom.

In addition, another aspect of the present disclosure is to simplify the assembly and replacement processes of the steering column.

The technical problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the aforementioned problems, and any other technical problems not mentioned herein will be clearly understood from the following description by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a universal joint assembly includes a yoke including a serration hole to receive an end portion of a steering column and a bolt-hole to receive a bolt which is used to restrict the steering column received in the serration hole, and a misassembly prevention member coupled to the yoke and elastically movable from a first position in which the bolt-hole is at least partially blocked to a second position in which the bolt-hole is opened.

Accordingly, the misassembly of a steering column is prevented and the safety and reliability is improved.

In other words, when the bolt is coupled to the bolt-hole of the yoke in the state that the end portion of the steering column is not inserted to the end of the serration hole of the yoke, the bolt may not be locked into a bolt receiving groove of the steering column, so the steering column may be separated from the serration hole. When the steering column is separated from the serration hole during driving, it becomes difficult to transmit the steering force through the steering joint, so the serious accident may occur.

However, according to an aspect of the present disclosure, the misassembly of the steering column may be prevented and the safety and the reliability may be improved, by preventing the bolt from being coupled to the bolt-hole, in the state that the end portion of the steering column is not inserted to the end of the serration hole of the yoke.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the misassembly preventing member elastically move from the first position to the second position, thereby preventing the new steering column from being misassembled when replacing the old steering column.

In other words, conventionally, when the steering column is separated from the yoke, the misassembly prevention member, which prevents the steering column from being misassembled, is not returned to a position to block the bolt-hole. Accordingly, it is difficult to prevent a steering column, which is mounted newly, from being misassembled.

However, according to an aspect of the present disclosure, when the steering column is separated from the yoke in the state that the misassembly prevention member moves from the first position to the second position, the misassembly prevention member is elastically returned to the first position again, thereby preventing a newly installed steering column from being misaligned when being mounted.

The misassembly prevention member may be formed in various structures elastically movable from the first position to the second position.

For example, the misassembly prevention member includes a fixing portion fixed to the yoke, and a movable portion coupled to the fixing portion and elastically movable from the first position to the second position.

Preferably, the movable portion is pushed by the end portion of the steering column to elastically move from the first position to the second position when the end portion of the steering column is introduced into the serration hole. The movable portion is elastically returned from the second position to the first position when the end portion of the steering column is withdrawn out of the serration hole.

In addition, the yoke includes a guide slot connected to the bolt-hole and the serration hole, such that the movable portion can be moved from the first position to the second position on the guide slot.

More preferably, the universal joint assembly further includes an elastic extension portion extending from the fixing portion and being elastically rotatable with respect to the fixing portion. The elastic extension portion is disposed on an outer portion of the guide slot, and the movable portion is connected with the elastic extension portion perpendicularly to the elastic extension portion.

As described above, the elastic extension portion extends from, and is elastically rotatable with respect to, the fixing portion, and the movable portion is connected with the elastic extension portion. As such, the distortion of the movable portion can be minimized while ensuring the smooth rotation of the movable portion.

In this case, the movable portion is configured to partially block the bolt-hole at the first position and to be arranged inside the guide slot at the second position.

As described above, the movable portion partially blocks the bolt-hole at the first position and is disposed inside the guide slot without protruding out of the guide slot at the second position, thereby preventing interference between the movable portion and peripheral parts and ensuring the smooth rotation of the yoke.

