CN114684244A

CN114684244A - Steering wheel

Info

Publication number: CN114684244A
Application number: CN202011633993.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐琳琳; 桑瑞刚; 祝艳琳
Original assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Current assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Priority date: 2020-12-31
Filing date: 2020-12-31
Publication date: 2022-07-01

Abstract

The present invention relates to a steering wheel including a rim component formed with an inner cavity and a light emitting component received in the inner cavity to emit light toward the rim. The rim subassembly includes coating, casing and printing opacity cover, the coating is injectd the inner chamber and seted up the incision, the casing hold in the inner chamber is in order to support the coating, the casing be formed with the coating the connecting groove that the incision corresponds, the printing opacity shroud is located the coating incision department and insert the casing in the connecting groove, the light that light emitting component sent can pass in proper order the connecting groove the incision with the printing opacity cover. The coating is in the edge of incision is by the centre gripping the printing opacity cover with between the casing, be formed with between the printing opacity cover with between the coating and/or the casing with between the coating be used for restricting the coating the location portion that the edge shifted.

Description

Steering wheel

Technical Field

The present invention relates to automotive parts, in particular to steering wheels.

Background

Some automobiles employ a lighted steering wheel to provide a visual warning to the driver or to provide a backlit display while driving at night. Luminous steering wheel includes the rim subassembly and by the luminous component of rim subassembly encapsulation, and the rim subassembly is established at the incision and is connected in the printing opacity cover of casing including the coating that is formed with the incision, the casing and the lid that support the coating, and luminous component includes the luminous body and supports the circuit board of luminous body, and the light that the luminous body sent can pass the incision and jet out.

In order to fix the cut edge of the cover, the prior art generally forms a groove between the housing and the light-transmissive cover and fixes the cover by inserting the cover into the groove. To ensure a reliable fixation of the coating, the insertion height must remain greater than 4 mm. However, this can result in an excessive package height for the light emitting assembly, thereby occupying/interfering with the armature space. Further, considering that there is a gap between the clad and the parts located therearound when the clad is inserted into the groove, the size of the gap is difficult to control at the time of assembly, resulting in an increase in assembly difficulty.

Therefore, a steering wheel that is simple to assemble and can be reduced in package height is desired.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a steering wheel which is simple to assemble and can reduce the packaging height of a light-emitting component.

The invention provides a steering wheel, which comprises a rim component and a light-emitting component, wherein the rim component is provided with an inner cavity, and the light-emitting component is accommodated in the inner cavity to emit light towards the rim component. The rim subassembly includes coating, casing and printing opacity cover, the coating is injectd the inner chamber and seted up the incision, the casing hold in the inner chamber is in order to support the coating, the casing be formed with the coating the connecting groove that the incision corresponds, the printing opacity cover is located the coating incision department and insert in the casing in the connecting groove, the light that light emitting component sent can pass in proper order the casing the connecting groove the coating the incision with the printing opacity cover. The coating is in the end edge centre gripping of incision department is in the printing opacity cover with between the casing, the printing opacity cover with be formed with between the coating and/or the casing with be used for restricting the location portion that the end edge of coating shifted.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the light-transmitting cover comprises a cover body and a connecting part extending from the bottom surface of the cover body towards the inner cavity, and the positioning part comprises a convex part protruding from the bottom surface of the cover body and a concave part which is concave from the top surface of the end edge of the coating layer and is matched with the convex part.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the convex portion and the concave portion have a saw-toothed structure adapted to each other in shape.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the connecting portion of the light-transmitting cover is formed with a plurality of catching grooves, and a groove wall at the connecting groove of the housing is correspondingly formed with a plurality of catching protrusions protruding toward a center of the connecting groove, and the light-transmitting cover is caught to the housing by inserting the plurality of catching protrusions into the plurality of catching grooves correspondingly.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a recess is formed in the top of the shell to receive the end edge of the cover, the recess having a flat surface.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting assembly includes a light emitter and a circuit board for supporting the light emitter, the circuit board being mounted on the housing.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the housing includes a mounting pin extending from a bottom surface of the housing, and the circuit board is fixedly coupled to the mounting pin.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the rim assembly further comprises a support seat arranged in the inner cavity, one side of the support seat being adapted to support the shell and the other side of the support seat being adapted to support the cladding, the support seat comprising a rigid body and a foam body distributed around the rigid body.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the light emitting component does not directly contact the top of the supporting seat.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the light-transmissive cover corresponding to the cutout is made of a transparent material, and the other portion of the light-transmissive cover is made of a non-transparent material. According to an embodiment of the present invention.

Therefore, according to the steering wheel of the present invention, on the one hand, the cut edge of the cover is horizontally sandwiched between the light-transmitting cover and the housing, so that the package height of the light emitting element can be reduced, and at the same time, since the cut edge does not need to be inserted, the steering wheel can be easily assembled. In addition, because the light emitting component is directly arranged on the shell, the light emitting component can be fixed without using a back cover, and the packaging height of the light emitting component can be further reduced.

Drawings

Features, advantages and technical effects of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements, and wherein:

fig. 1 schematically shows an overall configuration diagram of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of the steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention, cut along line a-a of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of the steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention, cut along line B-B of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a light transmissive cover according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 schematically shows an exploded view of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of a steering wheel according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following detailed description and drawings are included to illustrate the principles of the invention, which is not limited to the preferred embodiments described, but rather are intended to cover various embodiments of the invention, alone or in any combination, and the scope of the invention is defined by the claims.

Furthermore, spatially relative terms (such as "upper," "lower," "outer," "inner," "top" and "bottom," and the like) are used to describe one element's relative positional relationship to another element as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may therefore apply in other orientations than those illustrated in the figures, when used. It will be apparent that although for ease of illustration all of these spatially relative terms refer to the orientation shown in the drawings, those skilled in the art will appreciate that orientations other than those shown in the drawings may be used.

Fig. 1 schematically shows an overall configuration diagram of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of the steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention, cut along line a-a of fig. 1. Fig. 3 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of the steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention, cut along line B-B of fig. 1. Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a light transmissive cover according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 5 schematically shows an exploded view of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention. A steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 1 to 5.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, a steering wheel 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a rim component 100 and a light emitting component 200. Rim assembly 100 is formed with an inner cavity 300, and light emitting assembly 200 is received in inner cavity 300 to emit light toward rim assembly 100. As best seen in fig. 2 and 3, light emitting assembly 200 is located entirely within interior cavity 300. In other words, light emitting assembly 200 is completely surrounded by rim assembly 100.

The rim assembly 100 includes a cladding 110, a housing 120, and a light transmissive cover 130. The coating 110 defines a lumen 300, and the coating 110 is substantially cylindrical, such that, as shown in fig. 1, the lumen 300 has a substantially circular cross-section. The covering layer 110 is formed with a notch 111, and the notch 111 has a substantially arc shape, as shown in fig. 1 and 5. The housing 120 is received in the inner cavity 300 and supports the cover 110. The case 120 is formed with a coupling groove 122 corresponding to the cut-out 111 of the cover 110. The coupling groove 122 extends up and down through the top of the housing 120. The light-transmitting cover 130 is covered at the cut-out 111 of the cover 110 and inserted into the coupling groove 122 of the case 120. The light emitted from the light emitting assembly 200 can be emitted through the connection groove 122 of the case 120, the cut-out 111 of the cover 110, and the light-transmissive cover 130 in sequence, as shown in fig. 2 and 3. Thus, the cladding 110, the housing 120, and the light-transmissive cover 130 together realize the encapsulation of the light emitting assembly 200.

A light-transmissive cover 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 2 to 5. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the light-transmissive cover 130 includes a cover body 131 and a connection portion 132 extending from a bottom surface of the cover body 131 toward the inner cavity 300. The cap body 131 has an outer surface having an arc shape and a flat bottom surface. The cover body 131 has a width greater than that of the cut 111 of the cover 110 and that of the coupling groove 122 of the case 120. Accordingly, the cover body 131 covers the cut 111 of the cover 110 and the coupling groove 122 of the case 120. The connection part 132 is inserted into the connection groove 122 of the case 120 through the cut 111 of the cover 110, whereby the light-transmissive cover 130 can be connected to the case 120.

As shown in fig. 3 to 5, a plurality of catching grooves 1320 are formed on the connecting portion 132, and a plurality of catching protrusions 1220 protruding toward the center of the connecting groove are correspondingly formed on the groove wall of the connecting groove 122 of the housing 120. When the connecting portion 132 is inserted into the connecting groove 122 of the housing 120, the plurality of latching protrusions 1220 on the groove wall of the connecting groove 122 can be correspondingly inserted into the plurality of latching grooves 1320 on the connecting portion 132, thereby latching the light-transmissive cover 130 to the housing 120.

A portion 1310 of the cover body 131 corresponding to the cutout 111 of the cover 110 is made of a transparent material (e.g., Polycarbonate (PC), Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), Polyamide (PA), etc.), and the other portion of the light-transmissive cover 130 is made of a non-transparent material (e.g., Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), etc.). It is to be understood that this is merely an example and the light-transmissive cover of the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, in some cases, the cover body of the light-transmissive cover may be entirely formed of a transparent material.

Referring again to fig. 2 and 3, the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 is clamped between the light transmissive cover 130 and the housing 120. Specifically, the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 is horizontally sandwiched between the bottom surface of the cover body 131 of the light-transmissive cover 130 and the top surface of the housing 120.

A positioning portion 140 for limiting the displacement of the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 relative to the housing 120 and the light-transmissive cover 130 is formed between the light-transmissive cover 130 and the cover 110, as shown in fig. 2 and 3. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning part 140 includes a convex portion protruding from the bottom surface of the cap body 131 and a concave portion recessed from the top surface of the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 to be engaged with the convex portion. Therefore, by inserting the protruding portion formed on the cover body 131 into the recessed portion formed on the top surface of the cover 110, the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 can be restricted from being displaced relative to the light-transmissive cover 130. In the present embodiment, the convex portion and the concave portion have a saw-toothed structure in which shapes are adapted to each other. That is, each convex portion and each concave portion have a triangular cross section, respectively.

However, it is to be understood that this is merely an example, and the positioning portion of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, in some embodiments, the positioning part 140 may be formed between the cover 110 and the case 120, or may be formed between the light-transmissive cover 130 and the cover 110 and between the cover 110 and the case 120. As another example, in some embodiments, the cross-section of each convex portion and each concave portion may have a rectangular, semi-circular, or the like shape that conforms to one another.

The top of the housing 120 is formed with a recess having a substantially flat surface. Thus, when the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 is held between the light-transmissive cover 130 and the case 120, the recessed portion can accommodate the edge of the cut 111 of the cover 110 and a part of the cover body 131 of the light-transmissive cover 130. Accordingly, it is possible to make the arc-shaped outer surface of the light-transmissive cover 130 not protrude from the outer surface of the cover 110, so that the steering wheel 10 has a substantially uniform appearance. Meanwhile, since the arc-shaped outer surface of the light-transmitting cover 130 does not protrude from the outer surface of the cover 110, the installation height of the rim assembly 100 can be reduced.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the light emitting assembly 200 includes a light emitter 210 and a circuit board 220 for supporting the light emitter 210. In this embodiment, the light emitter 210 may be in the form of an LED or an LED plus optical fibers. The light emitter 210 is mounted on the circuit board 220 in such a manner as to be opposite to the coupling groove 122 of the case 120, the cut-out 111 of the cover 110, and the transparent portion 1310 of the cover body 131 of the light-transmissive cover 130. Therefore, when the circuit board 220 is powered on, the light emitted from the light emitter 210 can sequentially pass through the connecting slot 122 of the housing 120 and the cut 111 of the cladding 110 to be emitted from the transparent portion 1310 of the light-transmissive cover 130.

The circuit board 220 is mounted on the housing 120. Thus, the light emitting assembly 200 is supported by the housing 120. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the housing 120 includes mounting pins 121 extending from a bottom surface of the housing 120, and the circuit board 220 may be fixedly connected to the mounting pins 121, for example, by means of a snap fit or a welding. It is to be understood that this is merely an example and the mounting manner of the circuit board of the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, the circuit board may be directly soldered to the inner wall of the housing in some cases.

In some embodiments, to further enable uniform spreading of the light emitted by the light emitter 210, the light assembly may further include a light guide (not shown) positioned between the light emitter and the light transmissive cover. The light guide member can allow the light emitted from the light emitter to pass through and to be uniformly transmitted toward the light-transmissive cover 130.

With continued reference to fig. 2 and 3. Rim assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes a support seat 150. The supporting base 150 is received in the inner cavity 300, one side (upper side) of the supporting base 150 is used for supporting the shell 120, and the other side (lower side) of the supporting base 150 is used for supporting the cladding layer 110. The support seat 150 includes a rigid body 151 and a foam body 152 distributed around the rigid body 151. The top of the foam 152 of the support base 150 has a flat surface to support the shell 120, and the bottom of the foam 152 of the support base 150 has a circular arc surface to support the cover 110. Thus, the cover 110 is supported by the shell 120 and the foam 152 together, the shell 120 is used to support the upper half of the cover 110, and the foam 152 is used to support the lower half of the cover 110.

The rigid body 151 of the support shoe 150 provides sufficient rigidity to the support shoe 150. The foam 152 of the support base 150 can make the support base 150 easily have a shape adapted to the cover 110 to reliably support the cover 110. In addition, the foam 152 also advantageously reduces the weight of the steering wheel 10.

In fig. 2 and 3, the rigid body 151 has an inverted U-shape, which further advantageously reduces the weight of the steering wheel 10 while ensuring sufficient rigidity of the support seat 150. It will be appreciated that this is merely an example and that the support shoe of the invention is not limited thereto, for example, in some cases the support shoe may be formed of only a rigid body or only a foam.

Furthermore, it can be seen from fig. 2 and 3 that the proportions of the support of the cover 110 by the shell 120 and the foam 152 are not the same, in particular, the shell 120 supports a smaller part of the cover 110 and the foam 152 supports a larger part of the cover 110, but this is merely an example and the proportions of the support of the cover 110 by the shell 120 and the foam 152 can be adjusted according to the actual situation.

As described above, the light emitting assembly 200 is supported by the housing 120, and thus the light emitting assembly 200 does not directly contact the top of the support base 150. Specifically, the light 210 and the circuit board 220 of the light emitting assembly 200 may be mounted to the housing 120 at a position spaced apart from the top of the support base 150. Accordingly, a space may be formed below the circuit board 220, which facilitates heat dissipation of the circuit board 220.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cover 110 may include a plurality of layers, such as a leather layer and a foaming layer, in order from the outside to the inside, to obtain the cover 110 having a desired thickness and/or a good tactile sensation. It should be understood that when the light emitting assembly 200 does not emit light, light of the external environment enters the eyes of a person after being reflected by the inside thereof through the light transmissive cover 130, and the light reflected by the inside of the light transmissive cover is weak compared to the light of the external environment, thereby making it difficult to observe the internal structure of the rim of the steering wheel from the outside. Conversely, when the light emitting assembly emits light, the light emitted from the light emitting assembly 200 will be significantly stronger than the light of the external environment, so that the eyes of the person can easily catch the light of the light emitting assembly to recognize the light passing through the rim assembly 100.

Therefore, in the steering wheel according to the present invention, since the cut edge of the cover is horizontally sandwiched between the light-transmitting cover and the housing, the package height of the light emitting module can be reduced, and since the cut edge does not need to be inserted at the time of mounting, the steering wheel can be easily assembled. In addition, since the light emitting assembly is directly mounted on the housing, the light emitting assembly can be fixed without using a back cover, which can further reduce the package height of the light emitting assembly. Therefore, the steering wheel has the advantages of simple assembly and reduced packaging height of the light-emitting component.

As described above, although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in the description with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the scope of the present invention should be defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A steering wheel (10) comprising a rim assembly (100) and a light emitting assembly (200), the rim assembly (100) forming an inner cavity (300), the light emitting assembly (200) being received in the inner cavity (300) to emit light towards the rim assembly (100),

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the rim component (100) comprises a coating layer (110), a shell (120) and a light-transmitting cover (130), wherein the coating layer (110) defines the inner cavity (300) and is provided with a cut (111), the shell (120) is accommodated in the inner cavity (300) to support the coating layer (110), the shell (120) is formed with a connecting groove (122) corresponding to the cut (111) of the coating layer (110), the light-transmitting cover (130) is covered at the cut (111) of the coating layer (110) and is inserted into the connecting groove (122) of the shell (120), light emitted by the light-emitting component (200) can sequentially pass through the connecting groove (122) of the shell (120), the cut (111) of the coating layer (110) and the light-transmitting cover (130), and

the end edge of the cladding (110) at the notch (111) is clamped between the light-transmitting cover (130) and the shell (120), and a positioning part (140) for limiting the displacement of the end edge of the cladding (110) is formed between the light-transmitting cover (130) and the cladding (110) and/or between the shell (120) and the cladding (110).

2. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting cover (130) includes a cover body (131) and a connecting portion (132) extending from a bottom surface of the cover body (131) toward the inner cavity (300), and the positioning portion (140) includes a protruding portion protruding from the bottom surface of the cover body (131) and a recessed portion recessed from a top surface of the end edge of the covering layer (110) to be fitted with the protruding portion.

3. The steering wheel according to claim 2, wherein the convex portion and the concave portion have a saw-toothed structure in which shapes are adapted to each other.

4. The steering wheel according to claim 2, wherein the coupling portion (132) of the light-transmitting cover (130) is formed with a plurality of catching grooves (1320), and a groove wall of the coupling groove (122) of the housing (120) is formed with a plurality of catching protrusions (1220) protruding toward a center of the coupling groove (122), respectively, and the light-transmitting cover (130) is caught to the housing (120) by inserting the plurality of catching protrusions (1220) into the plurality of catching grooves (1320), respectively.

5. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the top of the housing (120) is formed with a recess to receive the end edge of the cover (110), the recess having a flat surface.

6. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting assembly (200) comprises a light emitter (210) and a circuit board (220) for supporting the light emitter (210), the circuit board (220) being mounted on the housing (120).

7. The steering wheel according to claim 6, wherein the housing (120) includes a mounting pin (121) extending from a bottom surface of the housing (120), the circuit board (220) being fixedly connected to the mounting pin (121).

8. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein the rim assembly (1) further comprises a seat (150), the seat (150) being disposed in the inner cavity (300), one side of the seat (150) being for supporting the housing (120) and the other side of the seat (150) being for supporting the cladding (110), the seat (150) comprising a rigid body (151) and foam (152) distributed around the rigid body (151).

9. The steering wheel of claim 8, wherein the light emitting assembly (200) does not directly contact the top of the support base (150).

10. The steering wheel according to claim 1, wherein a portion (1310) of the light-transmissive cover (130) corresponding to the cutout (111) is made of a transparent material, and the other portion of the light-transmissive cover (130) is made of a non-transparent material.