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:
Jan. 10, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2007
Kazuasa Suzuki, Saitama, JP;
Minoru Higuchi, Saitama, JP;
Yasuji Shibahata, Saitama, JP;
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A rotatable grip (ancillary operation member) is provided on a part of a steering wheel body of a steering wheel (main operation member) for turning wheels. When the grip is rotated, a difference is generated between left and right wheels, and a yaw moment generated with this difference can assist or suppress the turning of a vehicle. Because the grip constitutes a part of the steering wheel body, it is possible to rotate the grip to assist or suppress the turning of the vehicle, while operating the steering wheel to turn the vehicle. Because both the steering wheel body and the grip can be operated by the same hand of a driver, operational burden on the driver is alleviated. Thus, it is possible to concurrently provide an excellent operability of the main operation member for controlling a kinetic state of the vehicle, and an excellent operability of the ancillary operation member for controlling the operation of a yaw moment generating device.