GB2142299A

GB2142299A - An improved steering wheel for vehicles with wooden handgrip

Info

Publication number: GB2142299A
Application number: GB08406789A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Cavalli Giuseppe
Original assignee: PERSONAL SpA
Current assignee: PERSONAL SpA
Priority date: 1983-06-29
Filing date: 1984-03-15
Publication date: 1985-01-16
Also published as: DE3410776A1; GB8406789D0; FR2548122A1

Abstract

An improved steering wheel for vehicles, equipped with a wooden handgrip mounted on a reinforced metal core (2), said handgrip being provided with weakening areas (7) which, upon collosion, cause the steering wheel handgrip to be broken at predetermined positions without chipping. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An improved steering wheel for vehicles with wooden handgrip The present invention relates to an improved steering wheel for vehicles particularly motor vehicles, motorboats and the like.

The steering wheels for motor vehicles substantially comprise an annular metal crown or core provided with radially-directed spokes which converge to the steering wheel center, said spokes being secured to the hub the lattter being in turn mounted to the car steering column. The steering wheel metal core comprises a sheath of a material forming the true handling part of the steering wheel.

Wood has been for many years the preferred material for sheaths of this type, mostly due to the valuable aesthetic features thereof and to the fact that this material difficulty gets dirty, in combination with the fact that this material is adapted to be handled in the presence of sweat, dust or the like. For this reason although synthetic materials recently come into use, wood in still used as a sheath material for the steering wheels of vehicles.

However the wood is affected by the relevant drawback of forming, in the case of breakage, of a great amount of chips thus giving place to chipped and sharp surfaces.

These chips are particularly objectionable when, as in this case, the car passangers can be hit, as a consequence of the breakage of the wooden parts, especially those of the steering wheel such as for example those formed owing to a road accident.

The need thus exists of providing a steering wheel for vehicles with a wooden handgrip which, upon breakage, does not give place to objectionable chips.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel, of the afore stated kind for vehicles, by which the above mentioned problems can be done away with.

Another object of the present invention is that of further improving the steering wheels of the afore stated type, said improvements having in general the purpose of increasing the strength of the steering wheel structure.

It is to be understood that the present invention also relates to steering wheels for motor vehicles the handgrip of which is not made of wooden material, but of a material likewise undergoing chipping.

The steering wheel of the present invention, of the type comprising a wooden handgrip, is essentially characterized by the fact that a number of weakening areas is arranged along said handgrip, whereby preferential breaking positions are provided without chipping.

According to further features of the invention, said weakening areas are formed either by portion of reduced size of the steering wheel handgrip, or by partitions of the wooden handgrip, whereby the latter consists of sections or partial sectors mounted on the metal core.

According to another feature of the invention said metal core is formed by tubular body shaped according to the annular profile of the steering wheel and having the ends joined to each other, a cantilevered connection being provided at the engament positions between the spokes and the metal core, the corresponding end of the spoke being provided with a lower bracket onto which the metal core abuts.

These and further features of the invention will appear from the following description made with reference to preferred embodiments of the invention, having illustrative and not limiting purpose. In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a general perspective view of an embodiment of the steering wheel of the invention; Figure 2 shows, in enlarged scale, a partial cross section of a modified embodiment of the invention; Figures 3 and 4 are cross-section views of the steering wheel of Fig. 1 as viewed along the lines Ill-Ill and IV-IV respectively; Figures 5 and 6 are cross-section views of the steering wheel of Fig. 2 as viewed along the lines V-V and VI-VI respectively; and Figure 7 shows a further embodiment of the invention along the line VII-VII of Fig. 1.

With reference to the figures, the steering wheel for vehicles according to the invention, is indicated by the reference 1 (Fig. 1) and comprises a metal crown or core 2 annularily shaped (Figs. 3, 4) provided with spokes 3, also made of metal, converging towards the connection flange 9 locked to the vehicle steering column (not shown).

Said metal core 2 is a metal structure having U-shaped or ring-shaped cross-section.

The handgrip of the steering wheel 1 consists of a sheath comprising a number of partial sectors or sections 5 of wood.

Said sectors are formed by substantially hollow cylindrical elements having a profile shaped as a circumference arch.

The sectors 5 are fastened to the metal core 2 by glueing. To this end said sectors are previously cut along their longitudinal axis into two shells or halves which are subsequently joined together again and glued to said metal core 2.

The handgrip of the steering wheel 1 thus consists of an anular body having a plurality of wooden sectors 5 completely covering as s sheath the metal core body 2. At the connection areas between adjacent sectors 5, grooves 7 are thus formed (Fig. 4).

Each groove represents a reduced thickness part of the wooden handgrip, said groove being defined, at both sides, by rounded edges 8 of the wooden sectors 5.

The sectors 5 can be mounted on the metal core 2 as a continous sequence, so that the core 2 is completely covered; otherwise as illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, said sectors may form with each other, a one-piece body, the wooden handgrip thus consisting of a wooden integral element having grooves 7.

The above specified embodiment can obviously modified so as to maintain the same effects.

In the first case, i.e. with handgrip made of single approached sectors, the weakening areas are defined by the cuts crossing the whole thickness of the handgrip to the metal core 2. In the second embodiment, which provides an integral handgrip structure, the depth of the weakening areas shall be like that of the grooves 7.

Said grooves or weakening areas 7 thus represent weakening positions at which the breakage of the steering wheel handgrip preferably occurs. Such a breakage, as for example that occuring owing to a collision of what ever nature, takes place at predetermined points corresponding to the weakening areas 7, without giving place to chips and a regular breaking pattern through the cross sections of said weakening areas. In the embodiment of Figs. 2, 5 and 6 the single wooden sectors 5 are mounted spaced apart from each other on the core 2; in this case, the weakening areas of the steering wheel are represented by the hallow spaces between adjacent sectors.

In any case the weakening areas or hollow spaces can be filled with plastic or generally synthetic material shirms, fulfilling the function of providing a continous surface of the wooden handgrip.

According to experimental tests, the best behaviour upon rupture of the steering wheel of the invention, is obtained without chipping by providing, along the handgrip of a 37 cm diameter steering wheel, weakening areas with a distribution such as to define at least ten sectors 5.

In the modified embodiment of Fig. 7, the metal core 2 is a tubular metal structure having circular cross-section.

The end 4 of the spokes 3 adjacent to the metal core 2 has a relieved portion 10 with respect to the plane of the spoke.

The corresponding section of the core 2 abuts against said relieved portion 10 of said spoke end, and is welded thereto (Fig. 7).

A reinforcing element or sleeve of plastic material 6 is provided at the arch of the core 2 corresponding to the greatest distance between adjacent spokes 3 (upper portion of the steering wheel of Fig. 1).

The relieved end of the spokes 3 of the embodiment of Fig. 7 is formed by a supporting plate 10 fastened to the spoke 3 by means of a riveted joint 1 2.

However, other like solutions, such as the bending of the spoke end portion and the like, are possible.

Claims

1. An improved steering wheel for vehicles with a handgrip of wood or other material, undergoing the chipping, said handgrip being mounted to an annular supporting metal core (2), characterized by a plurality of weakening areas (7) distributed along said handgrip so as the give place to preferential breaking portions of the wooden handgrip without chipping.

2. An improved steering wheel according to claim 1, characterized in that said handgrip consists of a plurality of wooden and shaped sectors (5) mounted to the metal core (2) of the steering wheel, said weakening areas (7) being defined by the rounded edges (8) of said sectors (5) approached to each other.

3. An improved steering wheel according to claim 1, characterized in that said weakening areas (7) are defined by grooves or portions of reduced thickness of the wooden handgrip of the steering wheel.

4. An improved steering wheel according to claim 1, characterized in that said metal core is a tubular body shaped according to the annular profile of the steering wheel, the ends of said tubular body being joined to each other.

5. An improved steering wheel according to claim 4, characterized in that the end (4) of the spokes (3) engagable with the corresponding portion of the core (2) has a relieved portion (10).

6. An improved steering wheel according to claim 1, characterized in that at least a reinforcing element (6) is provided at the metal core portion corresponding to the greatest distance between adjacent spokes (3).