Steering wheel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9884641-B2
Application number	US-201615190967-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 23, 2016
Priority date	Jun 25, 2015
Publication date	Feb 6, 2018
Grant date	Feb 6, 2018

Abstract

A steering wheel includes a ring-shaped rim is to be gripped by a driver (the rim includes a rim core and a rim molding portion covering the rim core), a boss disposed at the center of the rim, plural spokes connecting the rim with the boss, an arm whose base end portion is integrated with the rim core and that is extended toward the inside of the rim core in a cantilever manner, and a vibration generator attached to the arm for generating vibrations that are to be transmitted to the rim through the arm.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A steering wheel comprising:
a ring-shaped rim that is to be gripped by a driver, the rim including a rim core and a rim molding portion that covers the rim core;
a boss that is disposed at a center of the rim;
a plurality of spokes that connect the rim with the boss;
an arm whose base end portion is integrated with the rim core, and that is extended toward an inside of the rim core in a cantilever manner, wherein the arm is not connected to the boss and the plurality of spokes; and
a vibration generator that is attached to the arm, and generates vibrations to be transmitted to the rim through the arm that is not connected to the boss and the plurality of spokes.

2. The steering wheel according to claim 1 , wherein
the base end portion of the arm is integrally molded with the rim core by metal injection molding.

3. The steering wheel according to claim 1 , wherein
the vibration generator includes an electric motor and an eccentric weight that is fixed firmly with a rotating shaft of the electric motor.

4. The steering wheel according to claim 3 , wherein
the electric motor is attached to the arm by an attachment bracket,
the attachment bracket includes a motor accommodating/holding portion that accommodates and holds the electric motor therein, a first fixing tab that is extended from one end of the motor accommodating/holding portion, and a second fixing tab that is extended from the other end of the motor accommodating/holding portion, the first fixing tab and the second fixing tab being extended so as to be overlapped with each other,
the motor accommodating/holding portion includes an outer shell for covering the electric motor, and a plurality of support protrusions that are protruded from an inner circumferential surface of the outer shell for supporting and fixing the electric motor, and
through holes are formed on the first fixing tab and the second fixing tab at positions that are associated with each other, and a bracket fixing member that fixes the attachment bracket to the arm is inserted through the through holes.

5. The steering wheel according to claim 3 , further comprising a snap-on portion configured for retaining the electric motor of the vibration generator on the arm.

Assignees

• Nihon Plast Co Ltd

Inventors

• Mitobe Takashi
• Kiuchi Yohei
• Sasaki Ken

Classifications

• B06B1/162

  Making use of masses with adjustable amount of eccentricity · CPC title

• B62D1/06 Primary

  Rims, e.g. with heating means; Rim covers (B62D1/11 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B62D1/046

  Adaptations on rotatable parts of the steering wheel for accommodation of switches · CPC title

• F16F7/1011

  by electromagnetic means · CPC title