Steering wheel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9598098-B2
Application number	US-201514645816-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 12, 2015
Priority date	Jul 25, 2014
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

A steering wheel provided with a vibration device. The vibration device includes a vibration motor with a weight attached to a rotational axis protruding out of a motor body, a mounting bracket which mounts the motor on the steering wheel body, a circuit substrate which includes a connector for feeding the vibration motor with electricity and a terminal which is plugged in a terminal hole of a mounting base of the motor body such that the circuit substrate is connected to the motor body, and a clip which is assembled with the motor body and mounted on the mounting bracket together with the motor body. The clip includes a pressing section which presses the circuit substrate against the motor body and a retaining element that is engaged with and holds the mounting bracket so as to help the pressing section to keep pressing the circuit substrate toward the motor body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A steering wheel comprising a steering wheel body provided with a ring section for holding for steering and a vibration device that transmits vibration to a driver holding the ring section, the vibration device comprising:
a vibration motor that includes a motor body, a rotational axis protruding out of the motor body and an eccentric weight attached to the rotational shaft, the motor body including a mounting base provided with a terminal hole;
a mounting bracket that holds the motor body and mounts the vibration motor on a mounting section of the steering wheel body;
a circuit substrate that includes a connector to which a lead wire is connected for feeding the vibration motor with an electric power and a terminal which is plugged in the terminal hole of the mounting base of the motor body such that the circuit substrate is connected to the mounting base of the motor body; and
a clip that is mounted on the motor body and assembled with the mounting bracket together with the motor body, the clip including a pressing section that presses the circuit substrate against the motor body and a retaining element that is engaged with and holds either the mounting bracket or motor body so as to help the pressing section to keep pressing the circuit substrate toward the motor body.

2. The steering wheel of claim 1 wherein:
the clip is composed of a flat spring material;
the pressing section is a holding stop which presses the circuit substrate in a direction that the terminal of the circuit substrate is inserted into the terminal hole; and
the retaining element is a retaining pawl which holds a retained region of the mounting bracket in a direction against the direction that the holding stop presses the circuit substrate.

3. The steering wheel of claim 2 , wherein:
the clip further includes a pair of assembling plate sections that are opposed to each other and abut against opposite end planes of the motor body opposing in a direction of the rotational axis of the vibration motor and a connection plate section that connects the assembling plate sections together and covers the circuit substrate, thus the clip has a generally U-shaped sectional shape;
the motor body includes on each of the end planes a projected section;
the holding stop is formed on each of the assembling plate sections in such a manner as to abut against opposite edges of the circuit substrate connected to the mounting base;
each of the assembling plate sections includes an assembling recess that receives the projected section of the motor body from an opening of the assembling recess provided on a side facing away from the connection plate section;
the retaining pawl is formed in a periphery of the opening of each of the assembling recesses;
the mounting bracket includes a holding section that holds the motor body and has a U-shaped sectional shape and a pair of mounting tongues that extend from opposite ends of the holding section and are mounted on the mounting section of the steering wheel body;
the holding section of the mounting bracket includes:
a pair of holding walls that are opposed to each other, each of the holding walls including a holding recess which receives and holds the projected section of the motor body on which the assembling plate sections of the clip are mounted; and
a connecting wall that connects the holding walls together;

each of the holding recesses of the holding walls includes:
an insertion opening for receiving the projected section of the motor body, the insertion opening being formed along a direction that the edges of the circuit substrate press the holding stops of the clip, and
a fit-in region into which the projected section of the motor body is fitted, the fit-in region being so formed as to bend at an end of the insertion opening in a direction perpendicular to a direction that the holding stops press the circuit substrate; and

the holding stops and the retaining pawls of the clip are located distant from each other in a direction that the terminal of the circuit substrate is inserted into the terminal hole such that the retaining pawls of the clip are engaged with and hold the retained regions located on the holding walls of the mounting bracket and the holding stops press the edges of the circuit substrate connected to the mounting base of the motor body in a state that the projected sections of the motor body are fitted in the fit-in regions of the holding recesses of the holding walls of the mounting bracket.

4. The steering wheel of claim 3 wherein:
each of the insertion openings of the holding recesses of the holding walls of the mounting bracket is located on an edge of the holding wall and each of the fit-in regions is so formed as to bend toward the connecting wall from the insertion opening;
the connecting wall abuts against an outer circumference of the motor body in a state that the projected regions of the motor body are set in the fit-in regions of the holding recesses; and
the clip further includes a spacer that extends from one of the assembling plate sections and is pressed onto a region of the outer circumference of the motor body facing away from the connecting wall of the mounting bracket and onto the mounting section of the steering wheel body in a state that the mounting tongues of the mounting bracket are secured to the mounting section of the steering wheel body.

5. The steering wheel of claim 4 , wherein:
the spacer includes a housing hole that houses a circular-arc planar region of the outer circumference of the motor body located between the end planes; and
opposing edges of the housing hole serve as supporting edges that abut against regions in the circular-arc planar region of the outer circumference of the motor body which are disposed on both sides of a most projected region of the circular-arc planar region in a cross-sectional surface of the motor body taken in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis.

Assignees

• Toyoda Gosei Kk

Inventors

• Sakurai Koji
• Umemura Norio
• Tsukamoto Naoki
• Ota Hisatoshi
• Onda Kenji
• Matsui Kenichi

Classifications

• B62D1/04 Primary

  Hand wheels · CPC title

• B60W50/16

  Tactile feedback to the driver, e.g. vibration or force feedback to the driver on the steering wheel or the accelerator pedal · CPC title