Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Hiroshi Sugita

Tetsushi Hiramitsu

Takemasa Yasukawa

Satoshi Ono

Masanori Aritake

Tadanobu Iwasa

Zenzaburo Murase

Keizo Hayashi

Makoto Kanai

Makoto Kawai

A wiper blade rubber provided with a surface layer containing more than 50% by volume of lubricative fine powder at least on the surface of a sliding portion thereof including a lip. The surface layer is integrally press-formed with the substrate of wiper blade rubber in one body so as to be vulcanized. The wiper blade rubber having such a surface layer is produced by a method according to the present invention which is characterized in that a starting article as the substrate of wiper blade rubber and a cavity provided in a separate mold used for this purpose has such a dimensional relationship therebetween that the thickness of the starting article at the center in the transverse section thereof is 0.9 to 1.0 times the thickness of the corresponding central portion of the cavity, where the lip of wiper blade rubber is defined. And the starting article has such a shape in the transverse section thereof that the central thin portion thereof is connected to the respective thick end portions thereof at an angle ranging from 20.degree. to 45.degree., which is defined by a line elongated along the central thin portion thereof and another line elongated along the connecting portion thereof. The wiper blade rubber according to the present invention has a small sliding resistance as well as excellent durability.

Wiper blade rubber

Herein disclosed is a steering wheel structure which has a stationary pad. On a steering shaft, there are mounted a boss plate of the steering wheel and column-side and pad-side sun gears. The boss plate is formed with at least one mounting recess which is opened to the outside. In this mounting recess, there is rotatably mounted through an intermediate member at least one planetary shaft which has column-side and pad-side planetary gears at its two ends. Upon assembly, the two planetary gears are brought into respectively meshing engagements with the two sun gears from the radially outer sides of the same.

Planetary gear assembling structure for steering wheels

A wiper blade rubber of an elongated configuration comprising a base portion of large thickness, a swinging portion substantially of a trigonal cross section, a neck portion connecting the base portion and the swinging portion and a thin plate-like lip portion disposed at the top end of the swinging portion. The basic material constituting most part of the base portion, the neck portion, the swinging portion and the lip portion is formed with soft and flexible rubber mainly composed of vulcanized ethylene-propylene rubber, and at least the surface of the lip portion is disposed with a surface layer constituted with a blended rubber composed of acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber and polyvinyl chloride resin and surface layer has a chlorinated surface layer.

A wiper blade comprising a thick base section consisting of a head to be inserted through a slit formed in a backing plate, a body to be extended below the backing plate and a connecting neck interconnecting the head and the body; a turning section having a substantially triangular cross section; a neck section interconnecting the base section and the turning section; and a lip section extended from the ridge of the turning section in the form of a thin strip for wiping the surface of a windshield, wherein at least the surface layer of at least either the connecting neck or the neck section is formed of an ozone-resistant rubber.

Wiper blade

A wiper blade capable of preventing a harsh metallic noise which is made by the direct impact of a metallic backing plate associated therewith on a blade holder. Rubber flanges are formed integrally with the body of the wiper blade so as to extend upward from the upper surface of the body. The flanges cover at least the longitudinal side edges of the metallic backing plate placed on the upper surface of the body so that the longitudinal side edges of the backing plate will not impact directly on the blade holder.

A wiper blade rubber is disclosed. The wiper blade rubber comprises a matrix formed of rubber made preponderantly of EPDM and vulcanized with a peroxide and a lip part having the portions thereof for sliding contact with the outer surface of a wind shield formed of chlorinated diene type rubber. The lip part has the opposite lateral sides in the direction of thickness of the leading end thereof formed of diene type rubber containing a chlorinated layer on the surface thereof, with the matrix exposed to sight at the leading edge of the lip part between the opposite lateral sides of diene type rubber. The diene type rubber in each of the opposite lateral sides has the outer surface thereof chlorinated.

A wiper blade rubber of a constant cross section, composed of at least two kinds of rubber ingredient and manufactured by multi-color extrusion molding. In a wiper blade rubber according to this invention, a lip portion thereof to be in sliding contact with the glass surface is formed of a lubricating rubber and a swing portion generally of a trigonal cross section is mostly formed of a flexible rubber. In another wiper blade rubber according to this invention, a central part at the bottom end of the lip portion is formed of a high frictional rubber and both side parts of the bottom end of the lip portion is formed of a lubricating rubber. In a further wiper blade rubber according to this invention, an engaging part of the base portion, in the form of grooves or ridges, for engagement with an elongate rigid body held by a yoke of a wiper, is formed of a lubricating rubber and the swing portion is mostly formed of a flexible rubber. In these wiper blade rubbers, a portion or a part thereof to be subjected to sliding movement is formed of a lubricating rubber, a swing portion thereof is formed of a flexible rubber and a part not to slide is formed of a high friction resistant rubber. These portions and parts are also formed in one piece. Therefore, according to this invention, it is possible to dispose rubber materials at suitable positions for function of the respective wiper blade rubbers, and the integrality thereof is high and the durability thereof is also excellent.

A steering wheel including an energy absorbing layer formed on a boss portion of the steering wheel and a membrane switch disposed on the energy absorbing layer.

Steering wheel having boss portion with energy absorbing layer and

A steering wheel for a vehicle has a switch-supporting pad kept stationary at all times regardless of turning movement of the steering wheel. The steering wheel incorporates a cable for electrically connecting vehicle electric accessories such as a radio, turn signal lights, and headlights to switches mounted on the pad for controlling the electric accessories. The cable is composed of a first loosely coiled spiral positioned in a housing section in a sun gear attached to the pad, a second loosely coiled spiral positioned in a housing section in a sun gear attached to a column, and a connecting portion joining the first and second spirals and extending axially through a boss plate mounted on a steering shaft.

Steering wheel

A steering wheel includes a steering shaft, column and pad sun gears mounted on the steering shaft for rotation relative thereto, a boss plate mounted on the steering shaft between the sun gears and rotatable in unison with the steering shaft, at least one bearing mounted on the boss plate and movable toward and away from a center of the boss plate, a planet shaft rotatably supported by the bearing, and column and pad planet gears mounted on opposite ends of the planet shaft and held in mesh with the column and pad sun gears, respectively, the planet gears having inner side surfaces rotatably held in contact with opposite outer side surfaces of the bearing.

A pad holder mechanism for use in a steering wheel includes circular guide members mounted respectively on a steering column and a pad disposed one on each side of a boss plate in an axial direction of a steering shaft, the guide members being immovable in the axial direction of the steering shaft. The guide members have continuous cam elements displaced in the axial direction throughout their circumferential length. The boss plate supports a pair of coacting members having opposite ends movable in phase along the cam elements on the guide members. The coacting members and the guide members are relatively positioned such that when the ends of one of the coacting members are positioned at peaks of the displaced cam elements, the ends of the other coacting member are located in positions other than peaks of the displaced cam elements.

Pad holder mechanism for steering wheels

A relay arrangement for transmitting electrical signals from various switches of an automobile to various devices controlled by the switches comprises a cable, and a boss plate rotatably held to the steering shaft of the automobile. The cable has a spiral winding between two sun gears, and the boss plate extends between two neighboring turns of the winding. The number of turns of the winding is in excess of the maximum number of revolutions that the steering wheel can make. When the boss plate is rotated during the rotation of the steering wheel, the plate slides through the winding in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the winding.

Relay arrangement for steering wheel

A steering wheel of the stationary pad type includes a steering shaft carrying thereon a boss plate, a first sun gear secured to a column and a second sun gear secured to a pad. At least one planetary shaft is rotatably supported on the boss plate, and has one end on which a first planetary gear meshing with the first sun gear is supported, while a second planetary gear meshing with the second sun gear is supported on the other end of the planetary shaft. The first and second planetary gears are normally held by a resilient device in intimate engagement with the first and second sun gears, respectively, but displaceable therefrom in the event foreign matter is caught between the planetary and sun gears.

A steering wheel includes a column, a steering shaft extending through the column, a spoke mounted on the steering shaft, a steering ring supported on the spoke, a pad mounted on the steering shaft in front of the spoke, and a helical member interconnecting the pad and the column to fix the pad nonrotatably with respect to the column and helically coiled as a number of turns which is greater than the maximum number of rotations of the steering ring, the helical member having a portion extending across the spoke.

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Ichinomiya, Japan

Hiroshi Sugita