The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 28, 2022
Filed:
Aug. 17, 2020
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
Stuart C. Salter, White Lake, MI (US);
Pietro Buttolo, Dearborn Heights, MI (US);
Christian Lange, Ferndale, MI (US);
Paul Kenneth Dellock, Northville, MI (US);
Aaron Gould, Detroit, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicle steering wheel is provided that includes a rotatable rim comprising a core structure, a steering angle sensor sensing an angle of rotation of the rim, and a plurality of proximity sensors located on the rim and spaced apart from one another along an arc length. The vehicle steering wheel also includes a controller processing sensed outputs generated by each of the plurality of proximity sensors and determining operator input commands based on the sensed outputs. The controller assigns a function to each of the proximity sensors that changes as the rim is rotated at an angle such that a given function associated with a proximity sensor remains at the same position in space.