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:
Dec. 31, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 19, 2001
Atsuo Takahashi, Miyagi-ken, JP;
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The switching unit has the switching member on the front side and the switching member on the back side which are mutually mechanically and electrically connected when mounted on the spoke portion of the steering wheel, and is designed such that when the switching members are assembled in one unit, the elastic electrode portion on one side comes into elastic contact with the electrode pattern portion on the other side. The switching members, therefore, are not required to be assembled into one unit prior to installation on the steering wheel. In addition it is possible to dispense with such a complicated operation as electrically connecting the switching members by a wiring harness after installation to the steering wheel, therefore improving the ease of installation. Furthermore, since there is no necessity to form a through hole in the spoke portion of the steering wheel, the steering wheel will not be deteriorated in mechanical strength.