Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Matsuo Industries, Inc.

Kabushiki Kaisha Torai-rika-denki-seisakusho Aichi-ken

Keisuke Imai

Keiichi Kato

Tomonori Nagata

Seiji Hori

Fuminori Teraoka

Shoichi Ibe

Tatsuo Yamashita

Akio Numazawa

Mitsuyoshi Ohno

Hitoshi Iwata

Toshimasa Yamamoto

Akira Sumiyashiki

Kenji Matsui

Yoshiyuki Fujita

Takuya Nezaki

Takayuki Ando

Hiroshi Tsuge

Mamoru Miyako

Yasutaka Watanabe

Toshihito Miyagawa

Seiji Nishide

Masao Okumura

Toshio Saito

Toshihiro Kimura

Makoto Isomura

Keiichi Katoh

Yoshio Umezawa

Yasuhiko Kouda

Yasunori Murayama

Masanori Yajima

Naohiro Tsukiyama

Youji Hamamoto

Masanori Oyabu

Koh Watanabe

Hiroshi Saito

A steering wheel incorporating an air bag device that facilitates the attachment and removal of an air bag module with respect to a steering wheel body while reducing manufacturing costs. The steering wheel body has a spoke core, which includes a hook. A horn plate, which forms part of the air bag module, includes a catch that is flexed to engage the hook.

Steering wheel incorporating air bag device

In order to provide a roll connector structure for a vehicle in which there is no complicated or complex wiring in the steering wheel and the space within the steering wheel can be utilized efficiently, a roll connector structure for a vehicle including a stator side casing which is fixed to a steering column, a rotor side casing which is mounted to the stator side casing and rotates integrally with a steering wheel, and a cable which is accommodated between the stator side casing and the rotor side casing, wherein at least one steering switch is connected to the rotor side casing without wiring, is provided.

Roll connector structure for a vehicle

A steering switch assembly structure which facilitates mounting of a pad member and switch assemblies to a metal core of a steering wheel, and which reduces assembly steps and is low in cost. The pad member is disposed between first leg pieces and second leg pieces on a bracket, compression coil springs are arranged between mount pieces of the pad member and the second leg pieces. In this state, the first leg pieces are inserted into mount slots of the switch assemblies. When the mount pieces are moved against elastic force of the springs and brought into contact with horn contacts, a horn device is actuated. The pad member is engaged by bottom surfaces of the switch assemblies, and is prevented from falling off the bracket, which is secured to the metal core, in a direction of separation from the bracket, without use of any further fastening means.

Steering switch assembly structure

An outer casing ( ) of a switch ( ) is provided with mounting hooks ( ), which are engaged with a core metal ( ) of a steering wheel ( ). A lower cover ( ) of the steering wheel ( ) is provided with retaining portions ( ), which are made to abut against the mounting hooks ( ) in such a way as to restrain the retaining portions ( ) from moving in a direction in which the engagement between the core metal ( ) and each of the retaining portions ( ) is canceled. Consequently, the switch (is) firmly mounted on the steering wheel ( ). Thus, a stable mounting state of the switch ( ) is obtained.

Structure for mounting switch on vehicular steering wheel

A steering wheel mark member fixing structure which enables a mark member to be strongly fixed to a pad cover and enables a reduction in costs. At a steering wheel, in a state in which fixing legs of the mark member are inserted in fixing holes of a pad cover, the fixing legs are bent, such that distal end portions of the fixing legs are abutted against taper portions adjacent to the fixing holes. The taper portions have a triangular cross-sectional configuration. Thus, the fixing legs are bent at acute angles, and bent portions of the fixing legs abut the corner portions of the taper portions. The distal end portions of the fixing legs are caught by a strong force on the taper portions, and it is difficult for the bent state of the fixing legs to be released. The mark member can thereby be strongly fixed to the pad cover. As a result, there is no need for another member such as a pin, as there is in conventional structures. A number of parts and costs are reduced.

Steering wheel mark member fixing structure

A plurality of leg portions for mounting and a pair of engagement portions are formed at a mark. While the leg portions for mounting and engagement portions are being inserted through, the mark is mounted in a recess portion of a pad cover. Thereafter, a spring formed in a substantially annular shape is mounted to the leg portions for mounting, and bent end portions of the spring are resiliently engaged with the engagement portions. Accordingly, as compared with prior structures utilizing heat-caulking and metal-caulking, the mark can be mounted to the pad cover simply and reliably, and costs and the space which is used can be reduced.

Structure for mounting to steering wheel

An object of the present invention is to obtain an acceleration sensor that can reliably detect acceleration when inclination of an inclining member is within a fixed range, and that can reduce unnecessary movement of relevant members when inclination of the inclining member is outside of the range, so that space efficiency in an inner portion is high. In the present invention, a gear of a fixed gear fixed at a seat cushion is formed in only a portion in the circumferential direction, and a portion at which the gear is not formed is a sliding surface. One of teeth among a plurality of teeth of a pinion of a revolving gear is short, to form a notched tooth portion. In a state in which the forward-collapsed angle of a seatback exceeds a predetermined angle, the notched tooth portion faces the sliding surface and the revolving gear body no longer rotates. At this time, since a bracket at which a sensor ball is mounted also does not rotate, the bracket is held at a fixed position relative to a frame plate. Accordingly, a space formed in frame plates in consideration of rotation of the bracket does not need to be large, and space efficiency is high.

Acceleration sensor

A gear mechanism and webbing retractor having a compact size in which a pinion is prevented from being damaged when a large initial driving force is applied from a gear. When a sensor detects an emergent deceleration of a vehicle, a piston driving device is actuated so as to move a rack at its standby position in a direction to a pinion. When the rack is located at the standby position, a tooth face on a side near a front end, of a front end tooth thereof is in contact with a pressure receiving surface of the initially driving member. The rack is moved along a pitch line in the direction to the pinion so that the front end tooth presses the pressure receiving surface. As a result, the initially driving member converts the initial driving force from the rack to a rotation force thereby rotating the pinion in the taking-up direction.

Gear mechanism and webbing retractor

A webbing winding device having a pre-tensioner for tensioning a webbing for restraining a passenger in a passenger restraining direction in an emergency deceleration of a vehicle, comprising a winding shaft to which an end of the webbing is fixed and a gear train mechanism comprising a plurality of gears arranged in such a manner that adjacent gears mesh with each other, wherein a driving gear which receives an external driving force when the pre-tensioner is actuated is driven from a starting end position to a terminating end, position which are set in advance, so as to rotate the winding shaft in a direction for retracting the webbing, and when a driving of the driving gear is completed, at least a pair of adjacent gears are separated so as to enable the winding shaft to be rotated in the direction for retracting the webbing by inertial force.

Webbing winding device

A pretensioner is disclosed which, when a vehicle suddenly decelerates, a large quantity of gas is generated, and the gas flows into a cylinder from a gas-generating a device. As a result of pressure of the gas, a movable pulley moves instantaneously together with a piston, so that the wire trained around the movable pulley is pulled. An amount by which a wire is pulled is twice an amount by which a wire is pulled in cases where the wire is directly connected to the piston, as in conventional devices. Accordingly, the wire can be pulled by the same amount by using only half of a length of a conventional cylinder, thus making it possible to manufacture a pretensioner which has a short cylinder.

Pretensioner

A webbing take-up apparatus is obtained in which the timing of engaging a pair of lock plates with both side walls of a frame can be accurately controlled, thereby realizing reliable operation, and which can be manufactured at reduced costs. In the webbing take-up apparatus, a cam, which axially penetrates a take-up shaft, is integrally connected to a lock wheel. The lock timings of the lock plates disposed at both ends of the take-up shaft are controlled by the lock wheel and the cam, respectively, so that the lock plates mesh with ratchet openings formed in the side walls. With this operation, the rotation of the take-up shaft is prevented.

Webbing take-up apparatus

A preloader for a webbing retractor, having a safety device which can be selectively switched to one of an operative state in which a sensor, which detects the state of rapid deceleration of a vehicle, is brought to a non-detecting state, and an operation-released state in which the sensor is brought to a detecting state. The safety device, when in the operative state, interferes with a vehicle component to be mounted after installation of the webbing retractor to a vehicle body and prevents the vehicle component from being mounted to the vehicle body and allows, when in the operation-released state, the mounting of the vehicle component to the vehicle body. Accordingly, an operator can easily determine whether the safety device is in the operative state or in the operation-released state.

Preloader for webbing retractor

A deactivating device for a locking mechanism of a pretensioner. The deactivating device includes: an operation lever provided movably about a central axis of rotation and in a direction of the central axis of rotation, and adapted to set the locking mechanism in one of an activated state and a deactivated state; and an urging member for imparting an urging force to the operation lever, wherein the operation lever has a deactivation operation mode for setting the locking mechanism in the deactivated state as the operation lever moves continuously in stages about the central axis of rotation and in the direction of the central axis of rotation against the urging force of the urging member and a position of the operation lever is subsequently held, and an activation operation mode for setting the locking mechanism in the activated state as the operation lever is automatically made to undergo returning movement by the urging force of the urging member from the deactivation operation mode. Since the operation lever requires a two-stage operating motion about the central axis of rotation and in the direction of the central axis of rotation against the urging force of the urging member, the locking mechanism is prevented from being deactivated unnecessarily.

Deactivating device for locking mechanism of pretensioner

A lever is provided for switching from a state in which a preloader for rapidly rotating a webbing take-up shaft in a webbing winding direction in an emergency of a vehicle is non-operated to a state in which the preloader is operated. Before a retractor is mounted to the vehicle, the preloader is made non-operative so that an undesired operation may be avoided. The lever interlocks with a lock device for preventing the webbing take-up shaft from being rotated in a webbing pulling-out direction during acceleration of the vehicle. When the preloader is in a non-operative state, the lock device provides a locked state in which a webbing cannot be pulled out from the webbing take-up shaft. Therefore, in order to fasten the webbing to an occupant, the lever must be actuated to enable the pulling out of the webbing, i.e., to enable the lock device to operate and to enable the preloader to operate. After the retractor has been mounted to the vehicle, the preloader is released from the non-operating state.

Preloader for a webbing retractor

A preloader for use in a webbing retractor for retracting an occupant-restraining webbing forcibly onto a takeup shaft at the time of a sudden deceleration of a vehicle. The preloader includes a angular shaft rotating integrally with the takeup shaft; a deformable member disposed around the angular column shaft; and a wire connected to the deformable member and wound therearound. The wire is tightly wound around the deformable member at the time of a sudden deceleration of the vehicle, thereby causing the deformable member to undergo deformation and engage with the angular shaft. The angular shaft is hence rotated integrally with the deformable member so as to positively rotate the takeup shaft in a taking-up direction.

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Kani, Japan

Keisuke Imai