US 12,077,207 B2
Outer tube with hole cover
Seiichi Moriyama, Maebashi (JP); Keisuke Nakao, Maebashi (JP); Kaname Yasuda, Maebashi (JP); and Naofumi Fujita, Maebashi (JP)
Assigned to NSK LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 17/772,779
Filed by NSK LTD., Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Nov. 5, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/041269
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 28, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/090853, PCT Pub. Date May 14, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-202006 (JP), filed on Nov. 7, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0363304 A1, Nov. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. B62D 1/20 (2006.01); F16J 15/52 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 1/20 (2013.01) [F16J 15/52 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An outer tube with hole cover, comprising: the outer tube constituting an intermediate shaft of a steering apparatus and arranged in an assembled state in a vehicle body so as to be inserted through a panel dividing a vehicle cabin interior and a vehicle cabin exterior; and the hole cover is configured to cover a gap between the outer tube and the panel; the outer tube comprising a male-shaft portion having a solid shape, and a female-tube portion having a bottomed cylindrical shape and integrally formed with the male-shaft portion; the male-shaft portion comprising an outer-peripheral-side engaging portion having a non-circular cross-sectional shape on an outer-peripheral surface and arranged on an end portion on one side in an axial direction of the outer tube; the female-tube portion comprising a slide hole opening only to the other side in the axial direction and provided with an inner-peripheral-side engaging portion having a non-circular cross-sectional shape on an inner-peripheral surface thereof, the female-tube portion being coaxially arranged adjacent to the male-shaft portion on the other side in the axial direction of the male-shaft portion; the hole cover externally fitted to the female-tube portion; and in the assembled state in the vehicle body, the male-shaft portion being arranged in the vehicle cabin exterior and an opening portion of the slide hole being arranged in the vehicle cabin interior, wherein a tube body of the female-tube portion comprises the inner-peripheral-side engaging portion in a range from an end portion on the other side in the axial direction of an inner-peripheral surface to an intermediate portion in the axial direction of the inner-peripheral surface, and a cylindrical surface shaped non-formed portion on an end portion on the one side in the axial direction of the inner-peripheral surface.