Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Matsuo Industries, Inc.

Osamu Hirose

Tsutomu Ishii

Hitoshi Iida

Kenji Sasaki

Norio Suzuki

Norio Umemura

Tadashi Yamamoto

Mikine Hayashi

Ryosuke Jinnai

Koji Sakurai

Yoshiteru Banno

Kosuke Shigeta

Atsushi Nagata

Katsunobu Sakane

Yoshiyuki Fujita

Tetsushi Hiramitsu

Tooru Koyama

Toshihito Yanagisawa

Jun Sato

Yuki Nonoyama

Masakazu Asano

Kazutoshi Hayashi

Katsumi Sakakida

Koji Shiraki

Tomoki Okada

Toshihiko Yanagisawa

Chihiro Kanetake

Kazuomi Takeuchi

Akira Urayama

A steering wheel, in which an airbag device is attached to a core metal, including a through hole for attachment of the airbag device, via a horn switch mechanism, the horn switch mechanism including: a metal pin member whose tip end portion is locked to the core metal via an engagement member to be engaged with the tip end portion in a state where the tip end portion is inserted into the through hole and which forms a part of an electrical circuit configured to operate the horn device; and a resin cap which is interposed between an inner surface of the through hole and an outer surface of the pin member, the steering wheel includes a plurality of connection paths configured to normally connect the pin member and the core metal in a manner of forming a part of the electrical circuit.

Steering wheel

A head-protecting airbag device includes: an airbag loaded in a vehicle as a completely folded body folded to be storable in the storage portion; and a regulation member, to be arranged near a bent portion in the completely folded body at a time of conveyance. The regulation member is formed of a belt-shaped body having flexibility, and capable of regulating a twist of the completely folded body at the bent portion when the completely folded body is assembled into the vehicle. In a state where a protrusion part is engaged with a periphery of an assembly hole, both front and rear sides of the protrusion part are wrapped together with the completely folded body by a wrapping material. A length dimension of a portion between the assembly holes is set to be a length dimension which disenables one turn of twist in a circumferential direction of the completely folded body.

Head-protecting airbag device

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 steering wheel includes: a cylindrical slider which is disposed on an outer side of a support member so as to slide in a front-to-rear direction and which is biased to the rear; a cap member which covers at least respective rear end portions of the support member and the slider from the rear; a movable-side contact portion which is provided inside the cap member; an annular damper holder which is mounted inside the cap member; an annular elastic member which is interposed between the slider and the damper holder; a transmitting portion which is provided in an inner circumferential portion of the damper holder; and a movement catch portion which is provided on an outer circumferential portion of the slider so as to be positioned immediately before the transmitting portion and to which a forward movement of the damper holder is transmitted through the transmitting portion.

A steering wheel has an airbag apparatus mounted on a core metal via a horn switch mechanism for activating a horn device. The horn switch mechanism includes a supporting member that is formed of an electrically conductive material, supported on the core metal, and extends rearward, a slider that is formed of an insulating resin material, is disposed outside the supporting member to be slidable with respect to the supporting member, and urged rearward by an urging member, a cap member that is formed of an insulating resin material and covers at least a rear end of each of the supporting member and the slider, and a movable side contact that is formed of an electrically conductive metal material and disposed between the cap member and the slider. The horn switch mechanism is configured to activate the horn device.

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

An elastic wire which is linearly moved in an assembling direction parallel with an orthogonal surface perpendicular to an axial line of a steering shaft and thus assembled to a core member includes an attaching part that is attached to a core member and an engaging part that is engaged into a pin in a through-hole. The core member is provided with a surface restraint part that permits the attaching part to linearly move in the assembling direction and restrains the engaged attaching part from moving in a direction parallel with the orthogonal surface. The surface restraint part includes a restraining protrusion that permits the bent partof the attaching partto surmount the restraining protrusion as the elastic wire is linearly moved and restrains the bent part having surmounted the restraining protrusion from moving in an opposite direction to the assembling direction.

Steering wheel having airbag apparatus attached thereto

A horn switch mechanismhas a securing pinserving as a support member, a movable memberserving as an insulating portion, a compression coil springserving as an urging member, and a contact terminalserving as a movable contact. The securing pinis fixed to a metal coreof a steering wheel bodyand supports a bag holderin such a manner that the bag holderselectively proceeds toward and retreats from the metal core. The movable memberis arranged between the securing pinand the bag holderand electrically insulates the securing pinand the bag holderfrom each other. The coil springurges the bag holderaway from the metal core. The contact terminalmoves together with the bag holder. When the bag holdermoves toward the metal coreagainst the urging force of the compression coil spring, the contact terminalcontacts the securing pinand permits conduction between the contact terminaland the securing pin. This activates a horn deviceof the vehicle.

Steering wheel with airbag device

In an airbag-equipped steering wheel, a plurality of horn switch mechanisms assembled to a bag holder each have a securing pin, which is inserted into a corresponding one of through holes formed in a metal core. A clip is engaged with a locking groove of each securing pin, so that each horn switch mechanism is fastened to the metal core. The through holes include one or more normal through holes that restrict inclination of the corresponding securing pins, and a special through hole that has an inclination permitting portion. The inclination permitting portion permits the corresponding securing pin to be inclined about the corresponding clipserving as a fulcrum. In the special through hole, the securing pin is permitted to be inclined about the clip serving as a fulcrum only when the clips are disengaged from the securing pin in all the normal through holes.

Airbag-equipped steering wheel device

A folded airbag is accommodated between a bag holder, to which horn switch mechanisms are secured, and a pad secured to the bag holder. The horn switch mechanisms are installed by being inserted in attachment holes formed in the bag holder. The pad has switch support portions for supporting the horn switch mechanisms.

Steering wheel with airbag device and method for assembling the same

A bag holder has a plurality of engagement holes about parts to which an airbag device is attached. Each engagement hole has a first long inner wall surface and a second long inner wall surface that extend along a substantially tangential direction of a circle the center of which coincides with the central axis of the bag holder, or of an opening. Engagement claws of a pad cover each include an insertion portion inserted into one of the engagement holes and a claw portion protruding from the lower end of the insertion portion toward the first long inner wall surface. The bag holder has integrally formed fastening pieces, each of which includes a support portion and a pair of coupling portions. The support portion is located in the vicinity of one of the engagement holes, and the coupling portions connect the support portion to the corresponding second long inner wall surface at several positions. Each fastening piece is bent at the coupling portions so as to contact a side surface of the insertion portion on which no claw portion is provided.

Pad cover fastening structure

In an airbag system for a steering wheel according to the invention, an airbag is folded through a first step and a second step after the airbag is unfolded flatly with a driver side wall and a vehicle body side wall superposed each other. Before the first step, the airbag is folded through a preliminarily-folding step to fold back a front edge side region to the vehicle body side wall along a folded line in a transverse direction. In the preliminarily-folded airbag, the folded front edge side is arranged within a range of 20% of the inner diameter of the ring part in each of opposite directions in the front-rear direction from a reference point on the inner peripheral edge of the front part of the ring part.

Airbag system for steering wheel

An air bag cover provided with an ornament and covering a folded air bag, the air bag cover being formed of synthetic resin and having door sections which are adapted to open when the air bag is expanded and inflated, the ornament including an ornamental part arranged on a front face of one of the door sections and a plurality of mounting legs extending downward from the ornamental part, the ornament being constructed so as to be mounted to the door section by passing the mounting legs through the mounting holes formed in the door section and bending them along the back face of the door section. The tip ends of bent portions of the mounting legs which have been bent along the back face of the door section are covered with the covering parts which are compatible with material forming the air bag cover so as to be melted and solidified.

Growing community of inventors

Kiyosu, Japan

Osamu Hirose