Steering wheel with horn switch assembly

Abstract

A motor vehicle steering wheel having a horn switch assembly including a module mounting plate on the steering wheel, a pair of horn contact plates attached to the module mounting plate in plug-in fashion, an occupant restraint module including a module base plate, and a plurality of electrically insulating plastic retainers. Each of the plastic retainers has a plurality of short legs received in keyhole slots in the module base plate and a plurality of long legs received in keyhole slots in the horn contact plates. When the retainers are twisted to locked positions, hooks on the short legs clamp the retainers to the module base plate. In the locked positions of the plastic retainers, the long legs cooperate with the keyhole slots in the horn contact plates in supporting the module base plate on the horn contact plates for in and out movement through a horn sounding stroke. Springs nested in the plastic retainers urge relative separation between the module base plate and the horn contact plates. An inner end of the horn sounding stroke is defined by engagement of the module base plate on the horn contact plates. Hooks on the ends of the long legs arrest relative separation between horn contact plates and the module base plate to define an outer end of the horn sounding stroke of the module base plate.