JPS60222371A - Steering wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a steering wheel rim which is lightweight and has a high strength, by forming the rim with a core member made of light-weight shape sustaining materials, a reinforced plastic layer and an aesthitic molding section. CONSTITUTION:A core member 1a as a center core sustaining the shape of the rim 1 is made of lightweight foamed member. A reinforced plastic layer 1c reinforces the center core since unidirectionally reinforcing fibers are arbitrarily orientated in the peripheral part of the core member 1a. Further, there is provided an aesthetic molding section 1b made of rubbers or resin, which is molded on the outer peripheral surface of the reinforced plastic layer 1c. Corrugated sections are formed in the molding section in areas where fingers are made in contact therewith to form anti-slipping sections for fingers upon steering.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a rim configuration of a steering wheel using reinforced plastic.

[Prior art]

In general, a steering wheel of an automobile, that is, a steering wheel and its rim portion have a structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. Figure 1 is a side view of the steering wheel (all steering wheels) when fixed.

Figure 2 is its front view, and Figures 3 to 5 are A of Figure 2.
-A sectional view, an enlarged view of the BB cross section, and an enlarged view of the CC cross section. In the figure, (1) is the ring-shaped rim that becomes the grip, and (Ia) is the core material that maintains the shape-retaining strength of the rim.1It is usually made of carbon steel. (1b)
is a design mold in which rubber or resin is molded around the core material. (2) are spokes fixed to the inside of the rim (1), and (3) are bosses fixed to the spokes at the center of the rim, which serve as attachment points to the steering shaft (4). In the conventional steering wheel with the above configuration, the rim (1), the spokes (2) and the boss (3) are all made of carbon steel, and the rim (1) is made of carbon steel.
The spokes (2) and spokes (21 and bosses (3) are in bath contact with each other, and the rim (1) is designed and molded with rubber or resin as described above. Even if it is light because it is composed of
It had a weight of 2. This has the disadvantage that vibration occurs in the steering wheel, particularly when driving at high speeds, reducing operational stability and causing discomfort to the driver, as well as increasing fuel consumption.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and consists of a rim made of reinforced plastic. A core material made of a lightweight shape-retaining material is used as the core material of the tamash, the surrounding area is a reinforced plastic layer reinforced with unidirectional reinforcing fibers, the outer periphery is made of rubber or resin as a design mold part, and the design mold is It is constructed by adding a concave and convex part to the part that the fingers come into contact with. In this way, it is possible to provide a steering wheel that is lightweight, has sufficient strength, does not generate vibrations during driving, has good operability, can reduce fuel consumption, and has excellent impact characteristics.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9. FIG. 6 is a front view, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are a sectional view taken along the line DD, an enlarged view taken along the line EE, and an enlarged view taken along the line FF in FIG. 6, respectively. 10 and 11 show other embodiments of the present invention, and are an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 9 and a situation diagram seen from the direction 00 in FIG. 11. In the figure, (1) ~
Regarding (3).

Since it is the same as FIG. 2, the explanation will be omitted.

(1a) is a core material that is the core of the shape retention of the rim (1).

For example, it is made of a lightweight foam member. (1b) is a designed molded part in which the outer periphery of a reinforced plastic layer, which will be described later, is molded with rubber or resin RC.

For example, the part of the design mold that touches the finger may be shaped like a wave (
9) etc. are formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, as another embodiment, lattice-shaped grooves may be provided, and furthermore, although not shown, circular grooves may be provided. By forming it in this way, it serves to prevent fingers from slipping when operating the handle. (No. 1 is a reinforced plastic layer reinforced with unidirectional reinforcing fibers in any orientation around the core material (1a) made of the above-mentioned lightweight foam member.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention uses a lightweight foam member as the core material of the rim of the steering wheel.

The outer cylinder is surrounded by a reinforced plastic layer reinforced with unidirectional reinforcing fibers, a designed molded part is formed on the outer cylinder, and an uneven part is added to the part of the designed molded part that comes into contact with the fingers.

It has a handle that prevents fingers from slipping when operating it. Lightweight and strong enough, there is no vibration when driving, and the operability is good.
It also has low fuel consumption and excellent impact characteristics.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view of the steering wheel fixed to the steering shaft, Figs. 2 to 5 show a conventional steering wheel, and Fig. 2 is its front view.
3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of blood cutting taken along the line B-B in the same figure, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view taken along the line C-C in the same figure. 6 to 9 show the steering wheel of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front view, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the same figure E-E, and Figure 9 is the same figure F-F.
It is an enlarged view of a cross section. Figures 10 and 11 show other embodiments of the present invention, including an enlarged sectional view similar to Figure 9 and Figure 11.
This is a diagram of the situation seen from direction a in the figure. In the figure, (1) is the rim + (1a) is the core material, (1b
) is the design mold part, (1 is the unidirectional fiber-reinforced plastic layer, (2) is the spoke, and (31 is the boss.) The same reference numerals in each figure indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] +11 A steering wheel consisting of a ring-shaped rim that serves as a grip portion, a boss that is an attachment portion to the steering shaft, and spokes that integrally connect the rim and the boss, wherein the rim is lightweight and shape-retaining. A core material made of wood, a reinforced plastic layer reinforced with unidirectional reinforcing fibers around it,
Designed molded part made of rubber or resin on the outer periphery,
A steering wheel characterized in that a concave-convex portion is provided in a portion of the designed molded portion that comes into contact with a finger. (2) The steering wheel according to claim (1), characterized in that a lightweight foam member is used as the core material. (3) The steering wheel according to any one of claims 11 to (2) f, characterized in that the portion of the designed molded portion that comes into contact with fingers is formed in a wavy shape. +41 The above design A steering wheel according to any one of claims (1) to (2), characterized in that a portion of the molded portion that comes into contact with fingers is provided with grid-like or circular grooves.