Vehicle steering column unit with air bag attachment

摘要

An arrangement fitted to the steering column contains a steering wheel unit (10) joined to a hub and thus non-rotatably fitted to the steering column. An airbag inflater and bag inflater (15) are held on the unit (10) which is axially located on the column by a fixer (30) threaded (33) at one end to engage the column end thread. The fixer is mounted so as to rotate relative to the wheel unit round the column axis so as to exert an axial force by means of a gear (32) as engaged by the drive gear (40) forming part of the wheel unit. The hub is fixed to the bottom frame (24) to which the drive gear is rotatably mounted. A guide (18) is axially recessed for part of the fixer (30) and has a transverse opening to take part of the drive gear. The drive gear is carried rotatably by a pair of bearings (28a,28b) which run off the bottom frame (24).