Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Kurabe Industrial Co., Ltd.

Norio Umemura

Tsutomu Ishii

Kosuke Shigeta

Atsushi Nagata

Osamu Hirose

Koji Sakurai

Naoki Tsukamoto

Mikine Hayashi

Hisatoshi Ota

Masashi Hotta

Koji Kawamura

Wataru Miura

Yoshiyuki Fujita

Akio Hosoi

Hitoshi Iida

Masaaki Okuhara

Tooru Koyama

Shun Takeuchi

Bunpei Morita

Yoshiteru Banno

Motoi Isomura

Sadao Uchida

Norio Mizuno

Masakazu Asano

Kouichi Kaga

Tetsuo Yasuda

Kazuhiro Terada

Hiroyuki Yamada

Masatsugu Saito

Toshihiko Asai

Yuki Naito

Yuichi Tsunekawa

Takamitsu Murai

Tsuneki Wakamatsu

Takashi Usugi

Akira Nakiri

Akiyoshi Ishikawa

Takamichi Taki

Kenichi Matsui

Kenji Onda

A handle in which a sensor layer capable of detecting grip is disposed on a gripping portion that is gripped at a time of steering. The gripping portion includes a core material, a covering layer formed of urethane foam, which is disposed by die-molding so as to cover a periphery of the core material, the sensor layer, and a protective layer covering the sensor layer. The sensor layer is formed of a mold coat agent formed of a urethane-based paint containing a conductive material. The mold coat agent is applied to a die surface of a molding die of the covering layer. At a time of molding the covering layer, the sensor layer formed of the mold coat agent is disposed on a surface side of the covering layer.

Handle

A steering wheel includes an annular rim portion, a boss section, one or more spokes interconnecting the rim portion and boss section, and a core member interconnecting these portions, the core member including a wheel portion disposed in the rim portion. The steering wheel further includes a cladding layer disposed around the wheel portion, a skin layer disposed on a front surface of the rim portion, and a sensor layer disposed between the cladding layer and the skin layer for detecting the driver's grip. The sensor layer includes a sheet-shaped substrate having stretch properties, a sensor composed of a conductive ink having stretch properties and applied to a front surface of the substrate, and an insulation sheet covering the sensor and having stretch properties. The sensor layer is generally formed into an annular band and mounted on an outer circumferential portion of the cladding layer by being stretched and expanded.

Steering wheel

A steering wheel includes a functional device and a control device, which is electrically connected to the functional device. The functional device includes a functional case, which constitutes a housing of the functional device. The control device includes a control case, which constitutes a housing of the control device. A first connector is partially exposed to an outside of the functional case. A second connector is partially exposed to an outside of the control case. The first connector is coupled to the second connector, so that the functional device is electrically connected to the control device without a harness between the functional case and the control case.

A damping system includes: a fixed member; an airbag device including a back holder and disposed on a rear side of the fixed member; an elastic member mounted in a mounting hole of the back holder; and a horn switch mechanism including a support member supported on the fixed member on a front side of the back holder, and a slider disposed between the support member and the elastic member. The airbag device functions as a damper mass of a dynamic damper, and the elastic member functions as a spring thereof. The horn switch mechanism includes an extended portion extending forwards. An engaged portion is formed at a circumferential edge portion of the mounting hole to extend rearwards. The elastic member includes an engaging portion opened in a front surface thereof. The elastic member is sandwiched by the engaged portion fitted in the engaging portion and the extended portion.

Damping system for steering wheel

A heater unit includes a pair of substrates formed from a polymeric foam and a cord-shaped heater sandwiched between the pair of substrates. The thickness of a region of each of the substrates at which the cord-shaped heater is disposed is thinned relative to other regions of the substrates in such a manner as to be shaped to the cord-shaped heater and thus the heater unit forms a flat shape. In the heater unit, the substrates are bonded together by an adhesive layer that is composed only from a pressure-sensitive adhesive.

Heater unit and steering wheel

A steering wheel provided with a vibration device. The vibration device includes a vibration motor with an eccentric weight attached to a rotational axis protruding out of a motor body and a mounting bracket which mounts the motor on a mounting section located at a region continuous with a ring section on a steering wheel core. The mounting section includes a vibration receiving section and a mounting base. The mounting bracket includes a pressing section which presses the motor body against the vibration receiving section and a mounting tongue which is secured to the mounting base. The mounting bracket is mounted on the mounting base with the motor body disposed on the pressing section in such a manner as to press a region of the motor body facing the vibration receiving section against the vibration receiving section and transmit a vibration of the motor body to the vibration receiving section.

A steering wheel provided with a vibration device. The vibration device includes a vibration motor with a weight attached to a rotational axis protruding out of a motor body, a mounting bracket which mounts the motor on the steering wheel body, a circuit substrate which includes a connector for feeding the vibration motor with electricity and a terminal which is plugged in a terminal hole of a mounting base of the motor body such that the circuit substrate is connected to the motor body, and a clip which is assembled with the motor body and mounted on the mounting bracket together with the motor body. The clip includes a pressing section which presses the circuit substrate against the motor body and a retaining element that is engaged with and holds the mounting bracket so as to help the pressing section to keep pressing the circuit substrate toward the motor body.

A vibration suppression structure for a steering wheel includes elastic support portions for elastically supporting an inflator of an airbag apparatus. Each elastic support portion is formed as a cylinder having an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of a steering shaft. At any cross section orthogonal to the axis, each elastic support portion has an outer periphery of the same oval or the same circle and an inner periphery of the same oval or the same circle. When the outer periphery is circular, the inner periphery is oval. When the inner periphery is circular, the outer periphery is oval.

Vibration suppression structure for steering wheel

An airbag apparatus, which is incorporated in a steering wheel, includes a bag holder in the longitudinal direction of the steering wheel. An inflator is elastically supported by the bag holder with elastic support portions. A retainer includes an annular bag attachment portion. The retainer is fastened to the bag holder such that the periphery of the airbag opening is held between the bag attachment portion and the bag holder. The retainer further includes arch portions and bag encompassing portions. The arch portions extend rearward in the longitudinal direction of the steering wheel from the inner rim of the bag attachment portion, and surround the inflator. The bag encompassing portions extend inward in a radial direction of the steering shaft from the inner rim of the bag attachment portion, and encompass the periphery of the airbag opening.

Airbag apparatus

A vibration control structure includes a fixed member, an airbag device that is provided at a front portion thereof with a bag holder having a mounting hole and is disposed at a rear side of the fixed member, a horn switch mechanism that includes a support member supported by the fixed member in a state where the horn switch mechanism is inserted through the mounting hole and a slider disposed between the support member and the mounting hole so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction, and an annular elastic member that is disposed on the rear side of the bag holder while being mounted to the outside of the slider. The airbag device serves as a damper mass of a dynamic damper and the elastic member serves as a spring of the damper mass.

Vibration control structure for steering wheel

A vibration damping structure for a steering wheel includes an airbag mounted in the steering wheel, an inflator arranged forward of the airbag, and a support member elastically supporting the inflator at a position forward of the inflator. The inflator includes a peripheral wall portion and gas ports formed in the wall portion. The support member has a hole facing the inflator. A sealing portion is provided to surround the hole. Through contact between the inflator and the support member at the sealing portion, gas leakage via the hole is prevented. The inflator has a pressure receiving portion in the vicinity of the gas ports to change the flow direction of gas, which is discharged outward from the gas ports in the radial direction of the wall portion, to a direction toward a rear side. The pressure receiving portion produces force acting forward by receiving pressure from the gas.

Vibration damping structure for steering wheel

A plate is provided on an air bag module, and a first pin on which a recessed portion is formed and a second pin on which a recessed portion is formed are provided in positions which are spaced apart from each other. A first clip adapted to be brought into engagement with the recessed portion and a second clip adapted to be brought into engagement with the recessed portion are provided on a steering wheel main body. In addition, bushes for biasing the plate in a direction in which the plate is separated from the steering wheel main body are provided between a first snap-fit portion which is made up of the first pin and the first clip and a second snap-fit portion which is made up of the second pin and the second clip.

Air bag module mounted steering wheel

A steering wheel has a rim part, and the rim part includes a rim core portion which is made through die casting and a rim cover portion which covers an outer surface of the rim core portion. The rim cover portion is provided with a rim cover body and a garnish made of a synthetic resin. A reinforcement member is provided on the garnish.

Upon self-alignment of a steering wheel, a steering wheel body has its ring plane displaced toward the vertical plane by plastic deformation of the steering wheel core. There is located a switch operation portion in at least one of the two front spokes neighboring a front space inside the ring portion and generally symmetrically arranged relative to the boss portion. The cores of the front spokes are further provided at positions generally symmetric relative to the boss portion and to the boss portion relative to the switch operation portion with deformable portions, respectively, to be twist-deformable upon self-alignment.

Growing community of inventors

Kiyosu, Japan

Norio Umemura