Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.

Tg North America Corporation

Takahiro Hashiba

Minoru Niwa

Atsushi Nagata

Mitsuru Harata

Kouichi Kaga

Akihiko Sonobe

Suzuaki Hongo

Isamu Ito

Ichiro Hirata

A horn pad for a steering wheel incorporating an air bag device. The horn pad comprises a pad main body, a planar switch opposed to a lower side of a horn operating portion and a support plate. A plurality of pressing protrusions are formed on the lower surface of the horn operating portion. The support plate is urged upwardly by the air bag and comprises a first support plate and a second support plate separatable from each other. Work preventive protrusions are formed passing through the planar switch and the first support plate between the second support plate and a lower surface of the horn operating portion such that a non-press-contact state can be maintained between the pressing protrusion and the planar switch when the horn operating portion bears no load. Accordingly, even if the support plate should be urged upwardly by an air bag or the like, this will not cause erroneous operation of the planar switch and, in addition, the thickness of the support plate can be made as thin as possible.

Horn pad for a steering wheel

A steering wheel assembly includes a horn switch in a horn pad. An insert is attached integrally to the backside of a pad cover to form the horn pad while defining a space therebetween. The insert is made of a hard electrical insulating material while the pad cover is made of a soft synthetic resin. A sheet member is disposed in the space between the insert and the pad cover. A resilient member such as a coil spring urges the sheet member toward the pad cover while supporting it movably in the space. A fixing frame made of a sheet metal secures the insert. A moving contact is arranged on the sheet member while a fixed contact is fitted on the fixing frame so as to face the moving contact. These contacts operate as switching elements.

Steering wheel

A steering wheel is provided in which an impact energy absorber composed of a deformation portion having a substantially inverted U-shape formed by bending sheet metal and a base portion connected at the lower end of the deformation portion is disposed between a boss in a boss portion and a pad. The deformation portion is provided with an upper wall portion which inclines to the front side, front and rear leg portions extending downward from front and rear edges of the upper wall portion, and a bending portion disposed at lower ends of the front and rear edges and connected to the base portion. The front and rear leg portions buckle inwardly at the middle. Also, the intersection of the front leg portion with the bending portion thereof is arranged at a position substantially under the intersection with the upper wall portion. The bending portion on the front leg side is bent frontward with an obtuse angle to a part below buckling point in the front leg portion.

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

A steering wheel horn switch system including a pad mounted in a steering wheel and having a pad leg; a pad leg receiver (5) for the pad leg; a pushup spring (3, 31) arranged concentrically with the pad leg receiver and against whose force the pad leg receiver is pushed down; a contact plate (4, 100) with a terminal (43, 46, 101); and an electrode plate (2', 20, B) with which the terminal of the contact plate comes into electrical contact when the pad is depressed and thus the pad leg receiver is pushed down.

Horn switch system of 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.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi, Japan

Takahiro Hashiba