Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.

Minoru Niwa

Tadashi Yamamoto

Kimio Muramatsu

Michio Inoue

Makoto Kanai

Junichi Mizutani

Takahiro Hashiba

Takanori Kantoh

Mitsuru Harata

Akira Uchiyama

Junji Koizumi

Tooru Koyama

Shinichi Goto

Yuichi Itoh

Yoshio Yamazaki

Sadao Uchida

Kouji Shiraki

Tsugunori Sugiura

Kouichi Kaga

Motoshi Matsuura

Akihiko Sonobe

Shinichi Imazu

Naoyuki Kumagai

Takanori Kanich

Kimio Jyougan

Isamu Ito

Ichiro Hirata

Suzuaki Hongo

Kuniyasu Itou

A pad for a steering wheel includes a membrane switch forming member and a cover member. The switch forming member includes a switch body and a support plate. The switch body has a plurality of conductive thin metal sheets and an insulating space interposed between the metal sheets. The support plate is made of rigid synthetic resin for supporting the switch body on its upper face and is formed in its outer peripheral edge with a plurality of mounting holes extending vertically. The cover member covers the air bag of an air bag device and is formed with a rupture portion adapted to be ruptured when the air bag is inflated, and mounting ribs projecting from the back face thereof and engaged with the mounting holes of the support plate. At least one of the outer peripheral edge of the support plate and the back face of the cover member is formed with gap regulating projections for setting a predetermined gap between the upper face of the support plate back face of the cover member.

Pad for steering wheel including membrane switch

Steering wheel for motor vehicles

A pad for a steering wheel includes a membrane switch forming member and a cover member. The switch forming member includes a switch body and a support plate. The switch body has a plurality of conductive thin metal sheets and an insulating space interposed between the metal sheets. The support plate is made of rigid synthetic resin for supporting the switch body on its upper face and is formed in its outer peripheral edge with a plurality of mounting holes extending vertically. The cover member covers the air bag of an air bag device and is formed with a rapture portion adapted to be ruptured when the air bag is inflated, and mounting ribs projecting from the back face thereof and engaged with the mounting holes of the support plate. At least one of the outer peripheral edge of the support plate and the back face of the cover member is formed with gap regulating projections for setting a predetermined gap between the upper face of the support plate back face of the cover member.

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 pad for an air bag device including an upper wall portion which has an openable portion which, upon expansion of the air bag, is separated from a side wall portion of the pad, leaving a hinge portion, and is angularly movable about that pivot axis so as to be openable. The openable portion is constituted by a net insert of a net-like configuration and a covering layer of a soft material covering the net insert. The net insert has a slit which is formed in one edge portion thereof remote from the hinge portion and extends toward the hinge portion. With this construction, even if part of the pad is curved, the net insert can be set in a corresponding injection mold without generating wrinkles in the net insert, and the molding can be performed in such a manner that the openable portion has a good appearance.

Pad for air bag device

There is disclosed a pad for use in an air bag device enclosing an air bag which inflates in case of an accident. The device is mounted to mount members disposed around the bag. The pad is shaped like a box, and comprises an upper wall and side walls extending downward from the fringes of the upper wall. The pad is molded integrally with an insert on which a coat layer is formed out of a soft synthetic resin. The coat layer has a thin-walled portion that breaks when the air bag inflates. The thin-walled portion is disposed at a given position on the upper wall. The insert comprises a rectangular tubular base portion made from a synthetic resin and a plurality of flexible nets disposed on opposite sides of the thin-walled portion. The base portion is disposed inside the side walls. The nets are disposed on the upper wall and connected to the top of the base portion. An attachment portion for mounting the pad to the mount members and setting portions for setting the pad in a mold used to mold the coat layer are formed on the base portions.

A horn switch mechanism mounted on a steering wheel includes a stationary contact plate, movable contact plates disposed upwardly away from the stationary contact plate, and a horn pad covering over the contact plates. The stationary and movable contact plates are spaced away from each other by springs interposed between the stationary contact plate and the movable contact plates, while a distance of the space between the two contact plates is restricted by flanged spacers which are inserted downwardly through respective insertion bores of the movable contact plate and secured to the stationary contact plate. Each flanged spacer is received in a respective projection formed on the stationary contact plate. The stationary contact plate has its contact points formed on the upper ends of the guide projections, and the movable contact plate has its contact points formed on respective annular lower edges defining the insertion bores.

Horn switch mechanism on steering wheel

In a steering wheel for vehicles, a self-aligning plate comprises a boss fitting portion, a spoke fitting portion and a plurality of plastically deformable arm portions arranged in radial direction in an annular space formed between both fitting portions so as to connect between an assembled body of rim/spokes and a boss. Each plastically deformable arm portion of the self-aligning plate has a curved portion at intermediate portion, and when impact force is applied to the rim, the rim surface is slanted in approximately perpendicular direction with respect to the line of impact force due to plastic deformation of the plastically deformable arm portion. Intersection angle between the adjacent plastically deformable arm portions near the spokes mounted on the spoke fitting portion is made obtuse angle, thereby stress concentration at edge portion of the boss fitting portion in the intersection position between these plastically deformable arm portions is prevented.

Steering wheel for vehicles

In a steering wheel for an automobile having an impact energy absorber mounted on a boss member for absorbing the impact load, the positions of the boss and the boss plate are set lower than the frontal plane of the steering ring by angling a spoke core downwards. An impact energy absorber is mounted on the boss plate. The outer circumference of the impact energy absorber is covered by a cover pad and extension of a cover. Because the wheel pad member does not protrude towards the driver substantially above the frontal plane of the steering ring, the driver's view of the instrument panel is not obscured by it, and it need not detract from the interior styling of the automobile.

Steering wheel

Growing community of inventors

Nakashima-gun, Japan

Minoru Niwa