Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Toyota Jidosha K.k.

Hiroshi Mitsunaga

Kazushi Noda

Kazumi Nagayama

Naohito Asami

Mitsuru Yoneyama

Akira Shiratake

Moriyuki Komatsu

Osamu Yoshida

A surface heating device comprises a heating element fabricated by braiding plural conductors on a flexible supporter. The surface heating device employs a heating element member which is reduced in thickness or diameter, and thus can be inhibited from providing an uncomfortable touch when sat upon or appearing as a relief on a surface cover of a seat. Also, because a pad is reduced in thickness, the surface cover of the seat can be heated up rapidly. The heating element is fabricated by braiding the conductors, and thus, when loaded with a weight when sat upon, the heating element allows a resultant stress exerted thereon to be dispersed through the conductors, hence being stronger against bending. Moreover, the conductors are inhibited from separating from each other and need no insulating coat.

Planar heating element

Apparatus for heating and cooling a steering wheel includes a skin layer coupled to the outside surface of the steering wheel, a heat conductive plate coupled to an inside surface of the skin layer, a thermal storage core extending along a central portion of the steering wheel, and at least one thermoelectric transducer thermally coupled between the heat conductive plate and the thermal storage core. The thermoelectric transducer either generates heat or absorbs heat in accordance with the direction of a current flowing through the transducer. When the steering wheel is hot, current is caused to flow through the transducer in a first direction so that the transducer absorbs heat. The transducer absorbs the heat from the heat conductive plate and passes it to the thermal storage core. In turn, the heat conductive plate absorbs the heat on the skin layer of the steering wheel, thus cooling the steering wheel. When the steering wheel is too cold, the current is caused to flow in a second direction in the transducer so that the transducer generates heat. This generated heat is provided to the heat conductive plate, which in turn, heats the skin layer of the steering wheel.

Heated or cooled steering wheel

A steering wheel including a ring portion covered with a covering portion, a heat insulating material provided at least at a part on the external circumferential surface of the covering portion at least at the grip of the ring portion, a heating member provided at least at a part of external circumferential surface of the heat insulating material and a surface leather further covering external circumferential surface of said heating member. The heat insulating material is covering the total circumference on the covering portion while a heating member covers only a part of circumferential surface of heat insulating material. And the heat insulating material is made of any one of polymers such as neoprene rubber foam, chloroprene rubber, chloroprene rubber foam, polyethylene foam, polyurethane and polyurethane foam and expanded material of them. The heating member forms a heater made of a heater wire and a pair of sheet members holding the heater wire.

Steering wheel

Growing community of inventors

Kadoma, Japan

Hiroshi Mitsunaga