Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Kouichi Kaga

Atsushi Nagata

Yoshiyuki Fujita

Norio Umemura

Minoru Niwa

Sadao Uchida

Takahiro Hashiba

Naoyuki Kumagai

An impact energy absorber includes: an interaction member and a plurality of energy absorbing members disposed radially around the interaction member, each of the energy absorbing members having a contact portion disposed on the interaction member side for being contactable with the interaction member, a ceiling portion disposed in the radially outside of the interaction member for receiving an impact force, and a shrinkable portion disposed between the contact portion and the ceiling portion so that the shrinkable portion is plastically deformable so as to shrink in the radial direction of the interaction member. The impact energy absorber can make the quantity of absorbed energy constant even if the acting angle of an impact force varies, so that it is possible to improve the degrees of freedom of the installation for the impact energy absorber.

Impact energy absorber

A steering wheel with an air bag unit having a center located behind the boss of the steering wheel. A weight member is buried within a front portion of the steering wheel core for reducing displacement of the center of gravity of the steering wheel caused by the air bag unit.

Steering wheel with an air bag unit and method of manufacture

A steering wheel having a body including a boss, a ringlike rim and a plurality of inclined spokes connecting the boss and the rim is characterized in that a pad which may serve as an air bag unit is disposed within the body so as to extend from the boss to the upper portion of the spokes. The pad is mounted with a plurality of brackets extending between the pad and the spokes. Each of the brackets is fastened to an inclined spoke on one hand and, on the other, has a through-hole for receiving a support projecting from the boss or a respective spoke for holding the pad in position and regulating the lateral movement of the pad.

Steering wheel with pad

A steering wheel with an air bag unit includes spoke cores each of which is formed by die casting and is mounted at a distal end portion of the spoke portion around a ring core so as to separate the ring core into ring core segments. A front part of the distal end portion of each of two spoke cores, which support the front ring core segment having the largest span, has a vertical thickness larger than a thickness of the distal end portion in a radial direction of the steering wheel.

Steering wheel having an air bag unit

A steering wheel is provided in which an impact energy absorber composed of a deformation portion having a substantially inverted U-shape formed by bending sheet metal and a base portion connected at the lower end of the deformation portion is disposed between a boss in a boss portion and a pad. The deformation portion is provided with an upper wall portion which inclines to the front side, front and rear leg portions extending downward from front and rear edges of the upper wall portion, and a bending portion disposed at lower ends of the front and rear edges and connected to the base portion. The front and rear leg portions buckle inwardly at the middle. Also, the intersection of the front leg portion with the bending portion thereof is arranged at a position substantially under the intersection with the upper wall portion. The bending portion on the front leg side is bent frontward with an obtuse angle to a part below buckling point in the front leg portion.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi, Japan

Kouichi Kaga