Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Toyoda Tosei Co., Ltd.

Norinari Nagata

Atsushi Nagata

Tadashi Yamamoto

Katsunobu Sakane

Yuji Kuriyama

Peter L Vigeant

Darrell A Kellogg

Ikuo Yamada

Toru Koyama

Akio Hosoi

Joseph Mannino

Chisato Masuya

Masafumi Kurokawa

Michael J Olesko

Ichizou Shiga

Shinichi Imazu

William N Castleman

Brian C Parker

A plurality of pins provided on a bottom surface of an air bag module in such a manner as to protrude therefrom are allowed to pass through a plurality of passage holes formed in a steering wheel, respectively, so that hook portions formed in the respective pins are brought into engagement with a locking wire constituted by a single continuous resilient wire which is provided so as to extend over the respective passage holes whereby the air bag module is mounted on the steering wheel. The locking wire is brought into engagement with a lock projection by push moving the locking wire by an operating portion so that the locking wire is held at a release position, while the engagement between the locking wire and the plurality of hook portions is released at one time.

Air bag module mounting structure

A steering wheel having a metal framework is disclosed. The framework includes an annular grip core, spoke cores extending inward from the grip core, a boss plate fixed on a steering shaft, and a frame located inside the grip core to connect the spoke cores. The steering wheel further includes a pad located in the grip core, an air bag device, and inserts embedded in the pad. The inserts include portions that are attached to the frame. The inserts prevent the pad from scattering when the air bag device is activated.

Steering wheel

A structure for connecting wires in a steering wheel. The steering wheel is mounted on a steering shaft to steer an automobile. The steering wheel includes a frame coupled to the steering shaft. The frame is manipulated to steer the automobile. An electric device is arranged in the steering wheel. A connector provides the electric device with electric power. The connector is manually inserted in the steering wheel during assembly. A mount holds the connector. A hole extends through the shaft frame near the mount. A guide is provided for guiding the connector toward the mount when inserting the connector through the hole. The guide is located between the shaft frame and the main frame. This results in more efficient assembly while limiting the number of parts.

A steering wheel includes an air bag device located centrally of a steering wheel. The air bag device includes an air bag, an inflator for supplying gas to the air bag to inflate the air bag, and a bag holder for holding the air bag and the inflator. Bolts, which are attached to the inflator, are inserted in bolt holes of the air bag and bolt holes of the bag holder. This couples the air bag, the inflator and the bag holder to each other. The bolts and nuts are used for securing the integrally joined air bag, inflator and bag holder to the steering wheel. As a result, the number of bolts and nuts need to secure the air bag device to the steering wheel is reduced.

A device for mounting an integrally formed steering wheel on the steering shaft of a vehicle. The device includes a boss to couple the steering wheel to the steering shaft on which is rotatably mounted a fastener that is rotated by a drive gear arrangement. The drive gear is on shaft that is rotatably mounted in a housing connected to the boss so that the drive gear that meshes with a complementary drive gear on the fastener to rotate and fasten the steering wheel to the steering shaft. Retainers are used to support the gear shaft to opposing sidewalls of the housing, and include bushings located between the retainer and the gear shaft.

Mounting device and method for installing steering wheel

An air bag has an air bag main body and a sheet. The air bag main body is formed into such a sac like shape as having a circumferential wall portion that extends in a sleeve-like form from a peripheral edge of an opening and a bottom wall portion that closes the circumferential wall portion. The sheet is arranged so as to extend from the peripheral edge of the opening to the bottom wall portion via the circumferential wall portion in such a manner that the air bag main body is split into two parts, and the sheet has a communicating hole. The sheet in sewn only to a portion of the peripheral edge of the opening in the circumferential wall portion and to a portion of the bottom wall portion.

Air bag for air bag apparatus

A passenger-side air bag device is provided including a door comprising a cover body and a side wall portion extending downwardly therefrom. Lock legs are disposed on the cover body and are configured to lock the door to the inner circumferential edge of an opening portion of an instrument panel. A housing constructed and arranged to be fixed to a car body includes slot portions into which the side wall portion of the door is fitted, and pawl portions for locking the circumferential edges of the lock holes of the door side wall portion to thereby prevent the door side wall portion from coming off from the slot portion. Gaps are provided in three directions between the door and the housing to compensate for any misalignment between the door and the housing.

Air bag device for passenger seat

A pad covering an air bag has a main body, a backing and a decorative member. The main body may be made from a thermoplastic elastomer and includes a tearing line which tears open when the air bag inflates, a recess formed in its outer surface spaced apart from the tearing line, and a hole formed in the recess and extending between the outer and inner surfaces of the body. The decorative member is arranged in the recess and the hole. The backing is situated on the inner surface of the main body, and has a through hole aligned with the hole of the main body. The decorative member has a decorative plate portion fitted in the recess of the main body, and a support post extending from the inner surface of the decorative plate portion and through the holes of the main body and the backing, and connected to the backing. The inner surface of the main body spaced apart from its hole and the outer surface of the backing facing the main body have mutually engaging portions which prevent the backing from being displaced along the inner surface of the main body. The main body of the pad provides a stable support for the decorative member, even though the thermoplastic elastomer is an easily expandable material.

Air bag pad with decorative device

An air bag cover is held by the bag holder in such a manner that the respective side walls of the cover are secured to their corresponding securing piece portions of the vertical walls of the bag holder. The front and rear side walls of the cover respectively include securing grooves to which the front and rear securing piece portions of the bag holder are to be secured. The opening width dimension of the securing groove is set a little smaller than the height dimension of its corresponding securing piece portion, while the opening width dimension of the securing groove is set a little larger than the height dimension of its corresponding securing piece portion. The right and left side walls respectively include securing projecting strips to which the right and left securing piece portions of the bag holder can be secured.

Air bag device

A steering wheel having an air bag device which includes a ring portion, a boss portion, a bracket, a spoke and an air bag device. The boss portion has a boss and a boss plate extending laterally from the boss periphery. A bracket made of plastically deformable metal has a supporting portion inclined outwardly in opposite directions toward the ring portion. The air bag device is held at a predetermined distance from the boss plate by the bracket and includes a bag holder made of plastically deformable metal and having connecting portions inclined at the same angle as the supporting portions of the bracket. By providing supporting portions inclined in opposite directions, the steering wheel of the present invention can absorb impact energy not only by inflation of the air bag device but also by deformation of the supporting portions due to rotation of the air bag device during impact.

Growing community of inventors

West Bloomfield, MI, United States of America

Norinari Nagata