Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Kouji Sakurai

Tadashi Yamamoto

Katsunobu Sakane

Yoshiyuki Fujita

A steering wheel in which a ceiling portion of a pad of an air bag module has adjacent peripheral edges extending along the individual spoke portions of a steering wheel body to be positioned close to a cover layer of the individual spoke portions. Each of the adjacent peripheral portions has a push rib. A bag holder has extensions capable of abutting against the individual push ribs. Movable contacts of the individual switch bodies are individually supported by the extensions under the push ribs. Stationary contacts of the individual switch bodies are individually supported by a stationary plate which is supported in abutment by the individual spoke portion cores in the vicinity of the individual stationary contacts. The steering wheel enables the operation of a horn switch with a reduced operational load when the peripheral edge of the pad of the air bag module is depressed and retains a clear feel of arrival at the bottom. This improves the operational feel of the horn switch.

Steering wheel having air bag module

An air bag device includes an air bag, an inflator, a pad, a bag holder, and a retaining plate. The pad has a top wall covering the bag while the bag is in a folded position, and a substantially cylindrical side wall extending from the top wall near its outer edge along an axial direction with respect to a steering wheel column. The side wall has a plurality of pawl holes. The bag holder holds the air bag and is situated radially inward with respect to the side wall of the pad. The bag holder has a plurality of outwardly protruding pawls, each pawl being received by one of the mounting holes of the pad. The side wall of the pad has a first portion not adjacent to the retaining plate and a second portion adjacent to the retaining plate. The pawls protruding through the holes in the first portion of the pad side wall have a protruding length larger than that of the pawls protruding through the holes in its second portion, so as to enhance the ease of assembling the pad to the bag holder.

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Inazawa, Japan

Kouji Sakurai