AU729308B2

AU729308B2 - Quick release steering wheel grip

Info

Publication number: AU729308B2
Application number: AU59450/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Gibson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-03-20
Filing date: 1998-03-20
Publication date: 2001-02-01
Anticipated expiration: 2018-03-20
Also published as: AU5945098A

Description

'I

P00011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act, 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT TO BE COMPLETED BY THE APPLICANT .00:: :0: NAME OF APPLICANT: ACTUAL INVENTOR: ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: JOHN GIBSON JOHN GIBSON Peter Maxwell Associates Level 6 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 INVENTION TITLE: DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NO: QUICK RELEASE STEERING WHEEL GRIP PO 5739 20 March 1997 Australia The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:- 2 The present invention relates to a steering wheel hand grip assembly for persons with physical disabilities that impair their ability to steer a vehicle or the like with two hands but allow them to steer with one hand.

In particular, the present invention relates to a steering wheel hand grip assembly for the aforementioned purpose having a quick release mechanism whereby a driver having use of only one hand is able to quickly and easily unlock and remove the hand grip member of the assembly from or fit and lock the said hand grip member onto the steering wheel.

It has become common practice for drivers with a physical disability that affects the function of one of their arms, such as amputees, stroke victims and paraplegics, to steer their vehicle with the hand of their remaining functioning arm with the aid of a steering wheel hand grip assembly. In general, the steering wheel hand grip assemblies of the prior art consist of a clamping support bracket which is secured to the steering 15 wheel of the vehicle, and a hand grip member which is removably secured to the clamping support bracket. The hand grip member is normally mushroom or ball shaped so as to allow effective gripping by the hand.

It is a requirement of the law that able bodied persons having the use :of both hands are not to use such steering wheel hand grip members and that they must be removed form the steering wheel when not in use.

The steering wheel hand grip assemblies that are presently being marketed most widely are those which enable the hand grip member to be removed therefrom or fitted thereto by pressing a release button situated on the underside of the clamping support bracket. As the hand grip member is secured to the upperside of the clamping support bracket, it is particularly difficult and awkward for persons having the use of only one hand to remove or fit the hand grip member from above while depressing the release button from below. Such a mechanism is more suited to two handed operation.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate these and other disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art.

According to the present invention, there is provided a steering wheel hand grip assembly comprising a support bracket adapted to be mounted on a steering wheel, a hand grip removably locked to the support bracket, and actuating means for unlocking the hand grip from the support bracket, the said actuating means being so located with respect to the hand grip that the user S* 10 can simultaneously operate the said actuating means and remove the hand grip from the support bracket with one hand, wherein the actuating means is pressure responsive and includes a spring mounted push button which is located on the outer surface of the hand grip, wherein the push button is connected to a push rod housed substantially within a passageway formed axially through the hand grip, and whereby pressure applied on the push button causes the push rod to slide through the passageway and unlock the hand grip from the support bracket.

Preferably, the hand grip is removably secured against a locating bush of the support bracket by a plurality of retractable locking balls which are movable between a first position where they prevent removal of the hand grip from the locating bush and a second position where they permit said removal.

In a preferred form, the locking balls are mounted within cavities formed in the hand grip and protrude therefrom when assuming their first position.

21/11/00 Preferably, when the locking balls are in their first position, the push rod is in an unpressed position within the said passageway.

In another preferred form, the push rod includes a circumferentially constricted portion that, when the push rod is in a pressed position, enables the locking balls to be retracted to their second position so that they do not protrude from their respective cavities, thereby allowing said removal.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a steering wheel hand grip assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which the hand grip member has been removed from the support bracket (shown partly 15 disassembled with respect to the steering wheel); Fig. 2 is a partly sectional side view of the hand grip member *locked to the locating bush component of the support bracket used in the assembly of Fig. 1; and °Fig. 3 is a partly sectional side view of the hand grip member being removed from the support bracket used in the assembly shown in Fig. 2.

The steering wheel hand grip assembly 10 shown in Fig. 1 consists of a support bracket 12 and a mushroom shaped hand grip 14. The support bracket 12 is shown partly disassembled and comprises an upper bracket member 16, a lower bracket member 18, a locating bush 20 and a pair of nuts 22, 24 with cooperating bolts 26, 28 for drawing the two bracket members 16, 18 together so as to mount the support bracket (when assembled) to a steering wheel The bracket members 16, 18 have cupped portions 32, 34 respectively, of a shape suited to engage complementary shaped upper and lower surfaces of the portion of the steering wheel 30 to which the support bracket 12 is mounted.

The locating bush 20 has a flange portion 36 and a tubular body portion 38, both of which define an inner tubular passageway 44. The flange portion 36 is supported on the upper bracket member 16 and the tubular body portion 38 passes through symmetrically aligned circular apertures (only aperture 40 shown) in the upper and lower bracket members 16, 18.

The hand grip 14 is removably secured or locked to the support bracket 12 by having its outer, substantially cylindrical shaft 42 located in the tubular passageway 44 of the locating bush 20 as shown in Fig. 2.

When so secured, a replaceable wear collar member 48 of the hand grip 14 abuts tightly against the flange portion 36 of the locating bush 20 and the hand grip 14 cannot be released therefrom because of the blocking effect of a pair of metallic balls 50,52 which in this instance are made of stainless steel. The balls 50, 52 are trapped within respective cavities 54, 56 :::formed in symmetrically opposed locations of the shaft 42 adjacent its leading end face 58, and have a diameter which allows them to emerge or .0 protrude slightly from their respective cavities, and so project above the el surface of the shaft 42, thereby serving to block release of the hand grip 14 from the support bracket 12. The balls 50, 52 are trapped in their respective cavities by virtue of appropriately knurling the edge of each cavity 54, 56.

6 Unblocking occurs when the balls 50, 52 are withdrawn slightly into their respective cavities 54, 56 so that they no longer protrude slightly therefrom. The actuating mechanism by which this is achieved with respect to Figs. 2 and 3 is described hereinafter.

There is a push button 60 which has a pressure receiving surface located substantially flush with the top surface of the hand grip 14, and the button 60 can be depressed under, say, thumb pressure against the force provided by a coil spring 62 mounted against the floor of a well 64 formed in the shaft 42. The button 60 has a pressure plate portion 64 (which bears the pressure receiving surface) integrally connected to a stem portion 66 which has a threaded aperture extending axially partly therethrough.

There is an inner, substantially cylindrical push rod 43 located slidably within a tubular passageway formed axially through the outer shaft 42, and the inner push rod 43 has a threaded upper region 67 and is secured to the stem portion 66 by engagement of the threaded upper region 67 of push rod 43 with the threaded aperture of the stem portion 66.

**.The pressure plate portion 64 is able to move within a recess 68 formed through the top surface of the hand grip 14 to an extent limited either by the optimal capacity of the coil spring 62 to undergo compression or by contact made between the underside of the pressure plate portion 64 with the trailing end face 70 of the outer shaft 42, whichever occurs earliest. This limited movement of the pressure plate portion 64 in the downward direction also determines the limit of movement of the push rod 43 in the same direction.

The shaft 42 is immovably secured to the surrounding body of the hand grip 14 by circlips 72, 74, whilst the push rod 43 is able to slide within the tubular passageway formed axially through the outer shaft 42 under the influence of the push button 60 and coil spring 62.

The push rod 43 has a circumferentially constricted portion 76 and a threaded lower region 77 that screwably engages a nut 78. The push rod 43 (and hence the pressure plate portion 64) is limited in the extent of its upward movement by the position of the nut 78 along the threaded lower region 77 of the push rod 43, with the nut 78 being preferably set at a position where the pressure receiving surface of the push button 60 is located substantially flush with the top surface of the hand grip 14.

The position of the circumferentially constricted portion 76 along the push rod 43 is manufactured to be such that when the push button 60 is depressed, the push rod 43 can slide to a position where the constricted portion 76 meets with the cavities 54, 56 so as to create sufficient extra space for the balls 50, 52 to retract or withdraw slightly into their 15 respective cavities, whereby they no longer emerge or protrude slightly therefrom so as to block the release of the hand grip 14 from the support bracket 12. With the balls 50, 52 in their inwardly withdrawn or retracted positions (which unlocks the hand grip 14 from the support bracket 12 as mentioned above), the user, while maintaining sufficient pressure on the push button 60, is readily and simultaneously able to use the same hand to grip the hand grip 14 and withdraw the outer shaft 42 of the hand grip 14 from the tubular passageway 44 of the locating bush 20, thereby quickly and easily removing the hand grip 14 from the support bracket 12 mounted on the steering wheel 30. The user is then able to release pressure on the push button 60 whereupon the push button 60 and inner rod 43 are forced to return to their previous positions under the normal expansion of the coil spring 62.

8 Securing of the hand grip 14 to the support bracket 12 is also carried out using the same features as are required for removal of the hand grip 14 from the support bracket 12 by reversing the aforementioned sequence of events.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention.

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Claims

1. A steering wheel hand grip assembly comprising a support bracket adapted to be mounted on a steering wheel, a hand grip removably locked to the support bracket, and actuating means for unlocking the hand grip from the support bracket, the said actuating means being so located with respect to the hand grip that the user can simultaneously operate the said actuating means and remove the hand grip from the support bracket with one hand, wherein the actuating means is pressure responsive and includes a spring mounted push button which is located on the outer surface of the hand grip, wherein the push button is connected to a push rod housed substantially within a passageway formed axially through the hand grip, and whereby pressure applied on the push button causes the push rod to slide through the passageway and unlock Io the hand grip from the support bracket. 9o*l S2. The steering wheel hand grip assembly of claim 1 wherein the hand grip is removably secured against a locating bush of the support bracket by a S: plurality of retractable locking balls.

3. The steering wheel hand grip assembly of claim 2 wherein the locking balls are movable between a first position where they prevent removal of the hand grip from the locating bush and a second position where they permit said removal.

4. The steering wheel hand grip assembly of claim 3 wherein the locking balls are mounted within cavities formed in the hand grip and protrude AItherefrom when assuming their first position. 21/11/00 The steering wheel hand grip assembly of claim 4 wherein, when the locking balls are in their first position, the push rod is in an unpressed position within said passageway..

6. The steering wheel hand grip assembly of claim 5 wherein the push rod includes a circumferentially constricted portion that, when the push rod is in a pressed position, enables the locking balls to be retracted to their second Sposition so that they do not protrude from their respective cavities, thereby S allowing said removal. Dated this 21st day of November, 2000 John Gibson :o Patent Attorneys for the Applicant S: PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES ooooo oo •o *o