JPH01103569A - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To aim at improvement in handwheel controllability by forming a part of a spoke, projected from a rim outer surface, toward the driver side, connecting it to the rim circumference via a slanting part, while forming a fingering recess at the opposite side of this slanting part, and having a wrist and an arm naturally turned outward. CONSTITUTION:A rim 11 with a built-in core 1 is connected to a boss part 10 coupled with a handwheel shaft 1, constituting a handwheel. A part P of the rim 11, projected from an outer circumferential surface 15 at the driver side, is formed at the side directed to the driver side, a slanting part 16 is formed toward the rim outer circumferential surface from this projecting part P, and it is smoothly connected thereto. A fingering recess 17 to be used at the time of holding the handwheel at the opposite side of the slanting part 16 of the spoke 13, is formed there. At the time of holding the handwheel, a wrist and an arm is made to come into a state of being opened outward in a natural state, so that there is no restraint against arm's motion, and thus improvement in controllability over a steering wheel can be promoted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steering wheel for a vehicle such as an automobile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As shown in FIG. 4, a steering wheel for a vehicle such as an automobile is constructed by connecting a boss 2 connected to the l end of a steering shaft and a rim 3 on the outside thereof with a plurality of spokes 4. ing. The ring diameter C of the rim 3 is smaller than the shoulder width dimension S12 of a standard-sized person. On the other hand, the spokes 4 are connected to approximately the center of the inner circumferential edge of the rim 3 at a position where an occupant H (hereinafter referred to as a driver) who operates the steering wheel holds the rim 3 with both hands in a comfortable posture. The circular cross-sectional shape of the rim 3 remains substantially even at the connecting portion. This similar structure is shown in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 174362/1983.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention When the driver H is in a comfortable posture and grasps the joint part of the rim 3 with the spokes 4 with both hands, the approximately circular cross-sectional shape of the rim 3 remains at this joint part as described above. , hand 5i
Rim 3 with tt1 deeply inserted into the inner peripheral edge side of rim 3.
You will begin to hold it. As a result, driver H's arm 1-1
a becomes narrowed inward as shown by the solid line in Figure 4, and the sides of the driver () are tightened, making steering operation difficult.Therefore, the present invention has been developed so that when the driver is in a comfortable position, the spoke connection part of the rim is When gripping the driver, the driver's arm will naturally turn outward and open at the side.
To provide a steering wheel that allows easy steering operations.

Means for solving the problem In a structure in which a boss connected to the end of the steering shaft and its outer rim are connected by a plurality of spokes,
A portion is set on the side surface of the spoke on the rear side of the vehicle interior, and is higher than the nape of the rim on the rear side of the vehicle interior, and an oblique portion is formed which is continuous with the high portion and the top portion, A concave portion is formed at the connecting portion with the rim on the opposite side surface of the finger rest, which is connected to the inner peripheral edge of the rim with a curved surface.

Action When the driver grasps the spoke connection part of the rim in a comfortable posture, the thumb of the hand just hangs on the diagonal part, and the remaining four fingers hang on the concave part of the finger grip, and the outer edge of the rim is gripped with the palm of the hand. You will begin to wrap your arms around it and grasp it. As a result, the wrist turns outward and the elbow of the arm turns outward in a chain reaction, opening up the side of the driver.

Example Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1.2, IO is a boss connected to the end of the steering shaft I, and a rim II having a circular cross section and a cored metal 12 is disposed on the outside of the boss. It is connected by a plurality of spokes 13. In this embodiment, the boss portion IO and the rim 11 are connected to each other by three spokes 13A on the left and right sides and spokes 13B on the lower portion.

In this embodiment, both of these spokes 13A and 13B are formed in a semi-cylindrical cross section with the rear side of the passenger compartment bulging out, and
These spokes 13A are curved toward the rear of the passenger compartment.
, 13B is provided with a portion P higher than the top portion 15 of the rim 11 on the rear side of the vehicle interior. The side surfaces 14 of these spokes I3A, 13B are formed with oblique portions 16 that are continuous with the high portion P and the top portion I5 of the rim 11 with a gentle curved surface. On the other hand, a concave portion 17 for a finger rest is formed at the connecting portion of the side surface 18 on the opposite side of the slanted portion 16 to the rim 11, which is connected to the inner peripheral edge of the rim 11 with a curved surface.

It is desirable that the recess 17 is formed deeper than the center of the cross section of the rim 11, that is, closer to the side surface 14, so that it can be easily placed with a finger. Furthermore, the dimension between the high portion P of the side surface 14 of the spoke 13 and the top portion 15 of the rim 11, that is, the protrusion amount A, is such that the rim ring diameter is 360xxφ to 420jIJ!
For a general-purpose rim of φ, a range of 0 to 50JI, preferably 10JI to 50IIR is good, and this protrusion IA
The relationship between the dimension B between the high part P of the slanted portion 16 and the outer circumferential edge of the rim 11 is B/A considering the usability described later.
It is preferable to set it to ≧1.5. In this embodiment, since the spokes 13 are formed to have a semi-cylindrical cross section as described above, the diagonal portion 16 has a curved surface as close to flat as possible so as to fit easily into the thumb of the driver's hand and the abdomen at the base thereof, which will be described later. It is formed.

According to the structure of the embodiment described above, when the driver grasps the joint part of the rim 11 with the spokes 13A, 13A with both hands in a comfortable posture, the thumb of the hand and the belly part of the base thereof just hang on the oblique part 16. The remaining four fingers are hooked onto the recess 17 on the side surface 18 opposite to the diagonal portion 16, and the palm is wrapped around the outer peripheral edge of the rim 11 to firmly grip it. In this way, by restricting the grasping position of the thumb of the hand to the rear side of the vehicle compartment relative to the rim 11 by the diagonal portion 16, the wrist naturally turns outward, and the elbow of the arm turns outward in a chain reaction. Then, as shown by the dashed line Hb in Figure 4, the shoulders, elbows and rim II of the driver ■ (
The line connecting the grip position and the grip point points outward in a box shape. Therefore, the sides of the driver H are naturally opened, allowing him to perform steering operations more easily.

FIG. 3 shows a different example of the present invention. In this embodiment, the boss portion 10 is formed to protrude up to the height of the spoke 13, so that the side surface 14 of the spoke 13 and the end surface of the boss portion IO are flat and continuous. It is molded. A pad (
) from the spoke 13 to the boss portion 10
Safety can be improved by flattening the range over the end face and expanding the padded area, and there is an advantage that the degree of freedom in the layout of functional parts such as switches and airbags can be increased.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a portion of the spoke on the rear side of the vehicle compartment is set at a portion higher than the top portion of the rim on the rear side of the vehicle interior, and the high portion of the spoke side surface and the rim top portion are set. In addition, at the joint between this slope and the rim on the opposite side, a finger rest connected with a curved surface on the inner peripheral edge of the rim forms a recess for use with the driver. When a person is in a comfortable posture and firmly grasps the connecting part of the rim with the spokes with both hands, the thumb position of the hand can be restricted to the rear side of the vehicle interior rather than the rim without causing discomfort. As a result, the wrists and elbows of the arms turn outward, allowing the armpits to open naturally, making it easier to perform steering operations without restricting arm movement, thereby improving safety. It has a great practical effect of being able to further improve the performance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
3 is a schematic sectional view showing a different example of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional steering wheel. ■...Steering shaft, 10...Boss part, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Rim, 13... Spoke, 14... Side surface of the spoke on the rear side of the vehicle interior, 15... Top of the rim on the rear side of the vehicle interior, 16... Diagonal part, 17... The finger rest has a recess for
18... Side surface opposite to the slanted part, P... High part of the spoke side surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a structure in which a boss connected to the end of the steering shaft and a rim on the outside thereof are connected by a plurality of spokes, a side surface of the spoke on the rear side of the vehicle interior is connected to the top of the rim on the rear side of the vehicle interior. A high part is set, and a sloped part is formed that is continuous with the high part and the top part, and a curved surface is provided on the inner peripheral edge of the rim at a connecting part with the rim on the side opposite to the sloped part. A steering wheel characterized by forming a series of recesses for finger rests.