GB2363836A

GB2363836A - Steering knob assembly for a vehicle steering wheel

Info

Publication number: GB2363836A
Application number: GB0015044A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Edgar William Law
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-06-21
Filing date: 2000-06-21
Publication date: 2002-01-09
Also published as: GB0015044D0

Abstract

A steering knob assembly includes a fixture 17, 18, 22 to attach it to a steering wheel. A steering knob 12 is located on one end of a shaft 11 which is rotatably secured in the fixture. The fixture has a locking element 27 in the form of two ball bearings to releasably lock the knob in the fixture. A rounded end 16 of the shaft remote from the knob is manually depressible adjacent release element 22 when the release element is moved against bias of spring 25. This allows a user to remove the knob and shaft from the fixture using one hand. Vehicle functions, e.g. lights, indicators, may be operated from keypad (14, Fig.1) via infrared signals.

Description

LOD 1 2363836 Steering Knob Assembly for a Vehicle Steering Wheel The pr

esent invention relates to a steering assembly for use by a disabled person to rotate a vehicle steering wheel.

It is known to provide a rotary steering knob for attaching to a conventional vehicle steering wheel so that a person with limited use of one arm/hand can more safely operate the steering wheel These steering knobs typically include a protrusion or knob upstanding perpendicularly from the steering wheel which the disabled person uses as a handgrip to turn the wheel Some steering knobs further include an electronic control panel or keypad for operating various function such as indicators, windscreen wipers, etc which the user would not be able to reach whilst holding the spinner The keypad may include an infrared transmitter which transmits signals to a receiver typically positioned near the sun visor of the vehicle which decodes the signal and operates the various functions of the car as required.

Unfortunately, these electronic components can appear to an opportunist thief to be valuable and to be worth stealing from the vehicle and so it desirable to have some components of the spinner detachable from the steering wheel so that they may be concealed or removed from the vehicle.

It is known to make the spinner knob detachable so that able bodied people can use the car without distraction LOD 1 by the spinner, but most of these quick release devices require the' use of two hands to operate; whilst pulling the knob with one hand, the user needs to depress a release button with the other This is obviously a problem if the disabled user without the full use of both hands needs to remove the spinner him/herself to conceal the device.

There is one existing arrangement where the knob has a depressed quick release button on its front surface, but this is still awkward for a disabled person to use.

There is therefore a need for a steering knob which can be easily removed by a person using one hand only.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a steering knob assembly for use by a disabled person for rotating a steering wheel, the assembly including:

a fixture for being attached to the steering wheel; a steering knob element including a shaft received in a bore in the fixture, and locking means for releasably locking the steering knob element in the fixture, said locking means including a release element movable to release said locking means, characterised in that in use when the steering knob element is secured to said fixture, an end of the shaft is manually depressible adjacent said release element.

In this way, the steering knob element may be released and disengaged from the locking means one-handedly, by manually operating said release means and therefore also LOD 1 pressing a depressing portion of the shaft one handedly.

The assembly typically further includes a steering knob located on one end of the shaft.

Preferably, the locking means includes an outer collar slidably mounted on the fixture co-operating with the release element for locking against the shaft.

The outer collar is preferably generally concentric with the shaft, and the manually depressible end of the shaft preferably projects beyond the adjacent end of the collar The outer collar may have a flange at one end The end of the shaft may be rounded, so as to avoid discomfort when it comes into contact with the hand of the user.

The outer collar is preferably slidable relative to the fixture against a bias The cylindrical portion preferably includes an abutment, such as a circlip, to prevent the outer collar coming loose from the fixture.

The outer collar preferably includes a recess so that when it is slid from its rest position, the recess can be brought into alignment with the movable locking means, such that the locking means moves substantially into the recess, thereby disengaging the shaft, allowing the shaft to be released from the fixture.

The attaching means preferably includes a cylindrical portion located inside the outer collar and adjacent to the shaft, the cylindrical portion including a recess through which the movable locking means can contact the shaft and/or the outer collar Preferably, the shaft includes LOD 1 one or more recess, e g grooves, into which the movable locking means can protrude to lock against the shaft.

Preferably, the locking means includes at least one substantially spherical element such as a ball bearing.

Two such elements are included in a preferred embodiment.

The assembly may include a keypad or electronic controller manually accessible when gripping the steering knob for controlling functions of the car, such as lights, indicators, steering wheels, horn, windscreen wipers, windscreen washers These functions may be controlled via infrared signals.

Typically the fixture includes one or more clamp element suitable for fitting around a section of the steering wheel.

Components of the spinner may be formed of moulded plastic.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description.

The invention may be performed in various ways, and, by way of example only, an embodiment thereof will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 illustrates a side view of a steering knob assembly according to a preferred embodiment; Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the assembly, with some parts of the apparatus cut away, and LOD 1 Figure 3 illustrates a longitudinal sectional view through the assembly.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, it can be seen that the steering knob assembly 10 includes two main portions which are detachable from each other, namely a steering knob and associated components and a fixture for attachment to a steering wheel The steering knob part comprises a knob 12 attached to one end of a shaft 11.

Under the base of the knob 12 there is a protrusion 13 on the shaft 11 The protrusion 13 attaches the shaft 11 to an electronic control pad 14 which includes a keypad The control panel protrudes substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the shaft 11 so that the keypad faces the driver of the vehicle when in use and is easily manually operable using the hand used for controlling the knob 12.

Towards the end of the shaft remote from the knob 12 there is an annular groove 15 The remote end 16 of the shaft 11 is rounded.

The second main portion of the assembly 10 includes a fixture for attaching it to a steering wheel, and carries a cylindrical clamp 17 which fits on to an arced portion of the steering wheel The clamp 17 extends substantially perpendicularly from a cylindrical portion 18.

A circlip 19 is fitted adjacent the lower (in Figures 2 and 3) end of the cylindrical portion 18 The cylindrical portion 16 includes two diametrically opposed circular apertures 20 above the circlip 18 The circular apertures LOD 1 are angled such that they have narrower openings on the inner surface of the cylindrical portion 18 than on its outer surface.

An outer collar 22 is fitted around the lower end of the cylindrical portion 18 The collar 22 is prevented from escaping the cylinder 18 by the circlip 19 The outer collar 22 is substantially cylindrical and has a flange at its lower end There is a lower annular recess 23 on the inner surface of the outer collar 17 The collar 22 also includes an upper annular recess 24 on the inner surface at its upper end, in which a compression spring 25 is fitted around the cylindrical portion 18 The base of the outer collar 22 includes an aperture 26 defining a ledge against which the circlip 25 comes into contact in the rest position shown.

The circular apertures 20 each contain a ball bearing 27 The ball bearings 27 are prevented from falling inside the cylinder 18 due to the narrower circumferences of the apertures 20 on its inner surface The ball bearings are held in place within the circular apertures 20 by the inner surface of the outer collar 22 When the collar 22 is in its rest position the inner surface portion of the collar between the upper recess 24 and the lower recess 23 holds the ball bearings 27 in the circular apertures 20.

When the steering knob assembly 10 is to be used for steering, the shaft 11 of the main body portion is inserted into the cylindrical portion 18 The shaft 11 moves down LOD 1 the cylinder 18 until the protrusion 13 on the shaft comes into contadt with the upper end of the cylinder When the shaft is in this position parts of the ball bearings 27 fit through the circular apertures 20 into the annular groove 15 on the shaft 11 and the rounded end 16 of the shaft protrudes beyond the lower end of the outer collar 22 As the inner surface of the outer collar 22 holds the ball bearings 27 in the groove 15, the shaft 11 is fixed relative to the cylindrical portion 18, but the shaft may rotate.

When the steering knob assembly 10 is to be released from the steering wheel, the user pushes the outer collar 22 against the spring bias, bringing the lower recess 23 into alignment with the ball bearings 27 At the same time, with the same hand, the user pushes the protruding end 16 of the shaft 11 upwards This causes the ball bearings to protrude outwardly into the recess 23, thereby releasing the shaft 11 The shaft, keypad 14 and the steering knob 12 can then be detached from the cylindrical portion 18 and the clamp 17 Thus, the components 11, 12 and 14 can be removed from the steering wheel fixture altogether comfortably using one hand if necessary.

LOD 1

Claims

1 A steering knob assembly for use by a disabled person for rotating a steering wheel, the assembly including:

a fixture for being attached to the steering wheel; a steering knob element including a shaft received in a bore in the fixture, and locking means for releasably locking the steering knob element in the fixture, said locking means including a release element movable to release said locking means, characterised in that in use when the steering knob element is secured to said fixture, an end of the shaft is manually depressible adjacent said release element when the release element is moved.

2 A steering knob assembly according to Claim 1, wherein the locking means includes an outer collar slidably mounted on the fixture co-operating with the release element for locking against the shaft.

3 A steering knob assembly according to Claim 2, wherein the outer collar is generally concentric with the shaft, and the manually depressible end of the shaft projects beyond the adjacent end of the collar.

4 A steering knob assembly according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the outer collar has a flange at one end.

5 A steering knob assembly according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the end of the shaft is rounded.

6 A steering knob assembly according to any one of LOD 1 Claims 2 to 5, wherein the outer collar is slidable relative to the fixture against a bias.

7 A steering knob assembly according to any one of Claims 2 to 6, wherein the outer collar includes a recess so that when it is slid from its rest position, the recess can be bought into alignment with the movable locking means, such that the locking means moves substantially into the recess, thereby disengaging the shaft, allowing the shaft to be released from the fixture.

8 A steering knob assembly according to any one of Claims 2 to 7, wherein the locking means includes a cylindrical portion located inside the outer collar and adjacent to the shaft, the cylindrical portion including a recess through which the movable locking means can contact the shaft or the outer collar.

9 A steering knob assembly according to Claim 8, wherein the cylindrical portion includes an abutment to prevent the outer collar coming loose from the fixture.

A steering knob assembly according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the shaft includes one or more recesses into which the movable locking means can protrude to lock against the shaft.

11 A steering knob assembly according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the locking means includes at least one substantially spherical element.

12 A steering knob assembly according to Claim 11, wherein the locking means includes two ball bearings.

LOD 1

13 A steering knob assembly according to any one of the preceding Claims further including a keypad or electronic controller manually accessible when gripping the steering knob for controlling functions of the car.

14 A steering knob assembly according to Claim 13, wherein the functions are controlled via infrared signals.

A steering knob assembly according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the fixture includes one or more clamp elements suitable for fitting around a section of the steering wheel.

16 A steering knob assembly according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the steering knob element is formed of moulded plastic.