Fastening device for tiltable steering wheel assembly

Claim 1

In a fastening device for a tiltable steering wheel assembly including a steering shaft tiltably connected to steering gear means, a column tube having said steering shaft journalled therein, and a steering wheel mounted on said steering shaft, comprising: a first bracket mounted on a portion of the vehicle body structure and having a pair of opposing arms; a second bracket secured to said column tube and having a pair of opposing arms coupled and pivoted to the pair of arms of said first bracket to hold said column tube at a desired angular position; a fastening bolt extending transversely across the coupled portions of said first and second brackets; a stopper means fixed on one end of said bolt at one side of the coupled portions of said first and second brackets; a pressure plate slidably mounted on the other end of said bolt at the other side of the coupled portions of said first and second brackets; and a locking lever pivoted on the other end of said bolt and including a cam element said cam element being arranged to compress said pressure plate against the coupled portions of said first and second brackets in the locked position; the improvement comprising; a rack element integrally provided on one of said first and second brackets; a ratchet element pivoted on the other of the first and second brackets and coupled to the rack element; a resilient element for biasing said ratchet element so as to cooperate with the rack element; and a lock element integrally provided on the locking lever and engagable with the ratchet element in the locked position such that when the locking lever is released, the lock element disengages from said ratchet element to cause pivoting movement of said ratchet element on the rack element on pivoting of the second bracket relative to the first bracket.