JPS62157859A - Steering wheel for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a feeling temperature to a steering wheel proper, by providing heat conductive bodies with spokes and the steering wheel when the steering wheel is fixed to a steering wheel shaft through the spokes and providing thermo-elements with the spoke sides of the heat conductive bodies. CONSTITUTION:In a steering wheel 13 fixed via spokes 12 to a steering shaft 11 pivotally supported by a steering columns 10, heat conductive bodies 21 having a large heat transfer coefficient are provided with the spokes and the steering wheel. In addition, thermo-element 20 is provided with the spoke side of the heat conductive bodies 21 and a radiating plate 22 for the thermo-element 20 is wound around the steering column 10 at the lower portion of the element 20. The spokes 12 and the steering wheel 13 are formed by covering a cover member 23 around the heat conductive bodies 21, the cover member 23 being made of material with a smaller heat transfer coefficient at the side of the spokes 12 and material with a larger heat transfer coefficient at the side of the steering wheel 13.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automobile steering wheel, and more particularly to an automobile steering wheel that allows the driver to freely adjust the temperature of the surface of the steering wheel held by his/her hand. .

[Prior Art] Many automatic ITs have been provided in the past, and many improvements have been made to their internal structures.

Among these improvements to automobiles, those related to heat in particular include heaters for indoor heating, coolers for cooling, and even cooler boxes for drinks that are linked to indoor cooling devices.

In this way, improvements have been made to passenger cars so that occupants other than those in the driver's seat can ride comfortably.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since these conventional improvements were aimed at improving the temperature and humidity comfort of the city space, they did not take into consideration 21i users, especially the steering wheel. This was something that was not often done.

For example, even though the inside of the car is slightly cold, the hair that grips the steering wheel may be sweating. In such cases, the steering wheel would slip when operating, which was extremely dangerous.

On the other hand, if the steering wheel is cold even though the room is heated, one hand freezes, making it difficult to operate the steering wheel as desired.

Therefore, the present invention is designed to freely adjust the temperature while the handle is resting.
The purpose of the present invention is to prevent 19 accidents caused by mistakes in steering wheel operation by providing a steering wheel that can be heated freely and not affected by the temperature inside the vehicle or the sensible temperature.

For this purpose, the Shukan I5I uses a thermoelectric element as a heating/cooling device for the handle.

Here, the thermoelectric element is an element that causes energy conversion between heat and electricity, and cools one side by passing an electric current, and heats the other side with the same amount of heat in absolute value. Furthermore, the cooling surface and heating surface of this thermoelectric element f can be changed by simply reversing the current direction.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a steering column that rotatably supports a steering shaft, and a steering wheel that is connected to the steering shaft through a spoke. The fixedly formed automatic Ichikawa steering wheel is characterized in that a heat transfer body with high thermal conductivity is provided on the poke and the steering wheel, and a thermoelectric element is provided on the poke side of the heat transfer body.

[Example] An embodiment of the wooden IJ1 will now be described along with two illustrated examples.

The present invention provides a conventional steering wheel for an automobile in which a steering shaft 11 is rotatably supported on a steering column 10, and a steering wheel 13 is fixed to the steering shaft 11 via a spoke 12. A heat transfer body 21 having high thermal conductivity is provided on the wheel 13, and a thermoelectric element 20 is provided on the spoke 12 side of the heat transfer body 21.

The steering column 1O is formed as a cylindrical body fixed to a -V body (not shown), and a steering shaft 11 is installed inside the cylinder of the steering column 1O via a bearing or the like.

Further, a plurality of spokes 12 are provided protruding from the upper end of the steering shaft 11, and a steering wheel 13 is provided at the tip of the spokes 12.

Furthermore, in this invention, a thermoelectric element f-20 is located at the center of the poke 12 corresponding to the upper end of the steering column 10, and this thermoelectric element f-20 is located around the steering column lO corresponding to the f section of the thermoelectric element The heat sink 22 of the thermoelectric element 20 is wrapped.

Further, a heat transfer body 21 for transmitting heat to the spoke 12 and the steering wheel 13 is installed inside the L portion of the thermoelectric element 20 .

In the illustrated example, the spokes 12 and the steering wheel 13 are formed by covering the heat transfer body 21 with a covering material 23 . At this time, the covering material 23 of the spoke 1z may be made of a material with low thermal conductivity, but the covering material 23 of the steering wheel 13 is formed of a material with high thermal conductivity, and the heat of the thermoelectric element 20 is transferred to the person who grips the steering wheel 13. need to be communicated.

Next, the use of Suekan II to cool the steering wheel 13 will be explained.

First, a switch (not shown) is turned on to cool the heat transfer body 21 side of the thermoelectric element 20.

Then, the cooled heat of this thermoelectric element 20 is transferred to the heat transfer body 21
is conducted to the steering wheel 13 via
As a result, the steering wheel 13 is cooled down, and the hands holding it feel cold.

At the same time, the anti-body heating element 21 side of the thermoelectric element 20 is heated, but the heat generated on the anti-body heating element 21 side of the thermoelectric element 20 is radiated into Ilj by the heat sink 22. .

Conversely, when using the present invention to heat the steering wheel 13, it is sufficient to simply reverse the heating and cooling sides of the thermoelectric element 20.

In the above description, the spoke 12 and the steering wheel 13 have the heat transfer body 21 covered with the covering material 23, but the steering wheel 13 may be formed of the heat transfer body 21 itself. In this way, heat transfer body 2
The heat transfer body 21 when the heat transfer body 1 itself is used as a core material is preferably formed of a material having appropriate rigidity that conducts heat transfer and heat release, such as aluminum or aluminum alloy, but it may be formed of other materials. You can also do that.

Conversely, a part of the heat transfer body 21 is formed of a heat pipe or the like, this heat pipe is installed inside the spoke 12, and the thermoelectric power i: T-20 is transmitted through the heat pipe to the steering wheel 13. In this case, the heat transfer body 21 in the steering wheel 13 is used as a heat pipe for heat transfer, but the heat transfer body 21 in the steering wheel 13 is Since the purpose is not heat transfer but heat release, aluminum materials are suitable.

Further, although the thermoelectric element 20 is installed at the upper end of the steering column 10 in the embodiment, it can also be installed inside the cylinder of the steering column 10, at the bottom of the steering column 10, etc. However, if it is too far away from the steering wheel 13 that ultimately releases heat, it is necessary to reduce heat loss in the heat transfer body 21 and perform efficient heat transfer.

In addition, the heat sink 22 is also used for the steering column lO in the embodiment.
Although the explanation has been made assuming that the heat sink 22 is provided around the
For example, it may be installed at the bottom of the steering column 10. In such a case, the thermoelectric element 20 itself can also be installed at the bottom of the steering column 10, or the thermoelectric element 3'-20 itself can be installed at the top of the steering column 10. The thermoelectric element 20 and the heat sink 22 can also be connected by a heat transfer body 21 (not shown). Furthermore, the shape of the heat sink 22 is not limited to the illustrated example.

Further, if necessary, a fan may be provided to improve the heat radiation effect from the heat sink 22.

Although detailed illustrations are omitted, the steering wheel 1
A temperature sensor is installed inside the steering wheel 3, and the temperature of the steering wheel 13 can be controlled by this temperature sensor.

[Effects of the City] As explained above, the present invention provides a steering wheel that allows the temperature to be freely adjusted using the steering wheel body, so that the temperature can be adjusted freely regardless of the interior temperature of the vehicle or the sensible temperature. This may cause the handle to slip due to sweat, or
Due to steering wheel operation error caused by steering wheel etc.・1
This was done to prevent the accident from occurring.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

IA shows one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of νJ, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway side view, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the 8-electron element and the heat sink. It is a diagram. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Steering column 11... Steering shaft 12... Poke 13... Steering wheel 20... Thermoelectric element 21... Heat transfer body 22...
・Radiation plate 23...Covering material agent Patent attorney
Black ffl i9 road Fig. 3 Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 1.3

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automobile steering wheel formed by rotatably supporting a steering shaft on a steering column and fixing a steering wheel to the steering shaft via a spoke, a heat transfer body with high thermal conductivity is provided in the spoke and the steering wheel. A steering wheel for an automobile, characterized in that a thermoelectric element is provided on the poke side of the heat transfer body to enable heat conduction.