Steering wheel hand-leaving induction pad and steering wheel

Abstract

The invention provides a steering wheel hand-leaving induction pad and a steering wheel, the hand-leaving induction pad comprises an insulation substrate, the first surface of the insulation substrate is provided with an induction electrode, and the second surface of the insulation substrate is provided with a heating track and a shielding track which are electrically isolated from each other; the heating track and the shielding track respectively extend from one end of the insulating substrate to the other opposite end in a winding manner and then extend back to the end in a winding manner; wherein capacitance can be generated between the sensing electrode and the shielding track, the sensing electrode is used for sensing the change of the capacitance, and the heating track is used for heating the steering wheel. According to the invention, the hierarchical structure of the existing hand-leaving induction pad can be simplified, and the hand-leaving detection performance and the heating performance of the hand-leaving induction pad cannot be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of steering wheel hands-off detection, and in particular to a steering wheel hands-off sensing pad and a steering wheel. Background Art

[0002] In the application of automobile steering wheels, in order to effectively improve driving safety and enhance user experience, a hand-off sensing pad is integrated into the steering wheel to realize the hand-off detection function and the steering wheel heating function. The existing hand-off sensing pad usually includes a heating layer, a sensing layer and a shielding layer arranged in layers, wherein the heating layer is used to heat the steering wheel, the sensing layer is used to sense the touch state of the steering wheel by the human hand, and the shielding layer is arranged between the sensing layer and the rim of the steering wheel to prevent parasitic capacitance from being generated between the rim of the steering wheel and the sensing layer. However, the hierarchical structure of the existing hand-off sensing pad is relatively complex, requiring more materials and costs. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel hand-off sensing pad and a steering wheel, so as to simplify the hierarchical structure of the existing hand-off sensing pad without reducing its hand-off detection performance and heating performance.

[0004] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a steering wheel hand-off sensing pad, comprising an insulating substrate, wherein a sensing electrode is provided on a first surface of the insulating substrate, and a heating track and a shielding track electrically isolated from each other are provided on a second surface of the insulating substrate, wherein the heating track and the shielding track respectively extend from one end of the insulating substrate to the other end opposite thereto and then extend back to the one end;

[0005] Wherein, capacitance can be generated between the sensing electrode and the shielding track, and the sensing electrode is used to sense changes in the capacitance, and the heating track is used to heat the steering wheel.

[0006] Preferably, the second surface is provided with N heating tracks, N ≥ 2;

[0007] At least in a local area of ​​the second surface, the number of intersections between an imaginary line extending along the width direction of the second surface and the N heating tracks is greater than 2N.

[0008] Preferably, the second surface is provided with three heating tracks, namely a first heating track, a second heating track and a third heating track;

[0009] The second heating track is arranged around the first heating track, the third heating track is arranged around the second heating track, and one shielding track is arranged between every two adjacent heating tracks.

[0010] Preferably, the local area includes positions corresponding to 3, 9 and 12 o'clock of the steering wheel.

[0011] Preferably, each of the heating tracks is formed with a folded area, in which the heating track extends in the reverse direction for multiple times.

[0012] Preferably, the folded regions are arranged in a staggered manner in the length direction of the second surface.

[0013] Preferably, at a position corresponding to the leather groove of the steering wheel, the heating track does not have the folded area.

[0014] Preferably, the spacing between adjacent heating tracks is greater than 4 mm, and the spacing between adjacent heating tracks and shielding tracks is between 1-4 mm.

[0015] Preferably, the sensing electrode is arranged on the first surface by bonding or sewing;

[0016] The heating track and the shielding track are arranged on the second surface by bonding or sewing.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a steering wheel, comprising the hand-off sensing pad as described above.

[0018] By adopting the above technical solution, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] The present invention arranges the heating track and the shielding track on the second surface of the insulating substrate at the same time, that is, arranges the heating track and the shielding track on the same layer, thereby simplifying the hierarchical structure of the hand-off sensing pad, which saves space and materials and significantly reduces costs. At the same time, the heating function and the shielding function are retained, so that the heating performance and the hand-off detection performance of the steering wheel are not reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 A top view of the second surface of the steering wheel hand-off sensing pad according to Example 1 of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 for Figure 1 Sectional view along AA direction;

[0022] Figure 3 for Figure 1 Cross-sectional view along the BB direction;

[0023] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of three heating rails in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5 for Figure 4A schematic diagram of the arrangement of the first heating track;

[0025] Figure 6 for Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the arrangement of the second heating track;

[0026] Figure 7 for Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the arrangement of the third heating track;

[0027] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of two shielding rails in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0028] Fig. 9 for Figure 1 A magnified schematic diagram of a local area. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] The terms used in the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. The singular forms "a", "the" and "the" used in the present disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates other meanings. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0031] As mentioned above, the heating layer, the sensing layer and the shielding layer in the traditional hand-off sensing pad are all arranged in layers, and the hierarchical structure is relatively complex, requiring more materials and costs.

[0032] Based on this, the present invention provides an improved steering wheel hand-off sensing pad and a steering wheel, so as to simplify the hierarchical structure of the existing hand-off sensing pad, but cannot reduce its hand-off detection performance and heating performance.

[0033] Example 1

[0034] The present embodiment provides a steering wheel hand-off sensing pad, which is arranged to cover the rim of the steering wheel, and is used to detect whether the driver's hands are off the steering wheel on the one hand, and to heat the steering wheel on the other hand.

[0035] See also Figure 1-9As shown, the hand-off sensing pad of this embodiment is roughly in the shape of a long strip and has sufficient flexibility to bend and wrap. Specifically, the hand-off sensing pad includes an insulating substrate 1, and the first surface (top surface, i.e., the side facing away from the rim) of the insulating substrate 1 is provided with a sensing electrode 2, and the second surface (bottom surface, i.e., the side facing the rim) of the insulating substrate 1 is provided with a heating track 3 and a shielding track 4 that are electrically isolated from each other and arranged non-parallel. Among them, the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 respectively extend from one end of the insulating substrate 1 to the other opposite end and then extend back to the one end. In this embodiment, the meandering extension refers to the extension direction extending in a roughly serpentine shape curve. The insulating substrate 1 is provided with a tongue lead-out terminal 11, for the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 to arrange their lead-in end and lead-out end and electrically connect to the outside, and the position of the tongue lead-out terminal 11 is determined according to the arrangement of the handle.

[0036] When the sensing electrode 2 or the shielding track 4 is connected to a power source, a capacitance will be generated between the sensing electrode 2 and the shielding track 4. The sensing electrode 2 can be used to sense the change of the capacitance and upload the capacitance sensing information to the ECU (electronic control unit), so that the ECU can determine whether the driver's hands are off the steering wheel according to the capacitance sensing information; the shielding track 4 can be used to prevent parasitic capacitance from being generated between the sensing electrode 2 and the rim of the steering wheel to ensure the hand-off detection performance; the heating track 3 can be used to heat the steering wheel, so that the driver can use the steering wheel comfortably even in a cold in-car environment.

[0037] In this embodiment, the insulating substrate 1 is an insulating flexible support member, such as Figure 1-3 As shown, the whole is in the shape of a long strip, which can separate the sensing electrode 2 from the shielding track 4 to form a capacitor. As a non-limiting example only, the insulating material used for the insulating substrate 1 can be PVC, PTFE, PS, PP, PE, PC, ABS, PET, PA, PU, ​​PUR, NBR, silicone, EPDM and the like, optionally containing additives. Preferably, the insulating substrate 1 is made of PE material.

[0038] In this embodiment, the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 can be made of any conductive material such as aluminum, constantan, copper, German silver, steel, Inconel, brass, CuNi2, etc. In one practicable manner, the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 can be in the form of conductive wires, fixed to the first surface of the insulating substrate 1 by bonding or sewing. In another practicable manner, the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 can be conductive ink printed on the first surface of the insulating substrate 1.

[0039] In this embodiment, N heating tracks 3 may be arranged on the second surface of the insulating substrate 1, wherein N ≥ 2, and at least in a local area of ​​the second surface, the number of intersections between an imaginary line extending in the width direction of the second surface (i.e., the Y direction) and the N heating tracks 3 is greater than 2N. It should be understood that the more intersections between the imaginary line extending in the width direction of the second surface and the heating tracks 3, the more actual heating wires there are at the corresponding positions, thereby improving the heating performance at the corresponding positions in a limited laying area when the number of heating tracks 3 is constant.

[0040] In order to ensure the heating performance of the hand-off sensing pad, the aforementioned local area includes the 3, 9, and 12 o'clock positions corresponding to the steering wheel. That is, at least at the 3, 9, and 12 o'clock positions of the steering wheel, the actual number of heating wires is greater than the number of heating tracks 3 arranged.

[0041] In an practicable manner, in order to take into account both the size limitation and heating performance of the hand-off sensing pad, as Figure 4-7 As shown, three heating tracks 3 are arranged on the second surface of the insulating substrate 1, which are respectively denoted as the first heating track 3A, the second heating track 3B and the third heating track 3C. The second heating track 3B is arranged around the first heating track 3A, and the third heating track 3C is arranged around the second heating track 3B. Figure 2 From the cross-sectional view along the imaginary line extending in the width direction of the second surface, it can be seen that the three heating tracks 3 form a total of eight intersections.

[0042] Preferably, if Figure 5-7 As shown, each heating track 3 forms a folded area (see the dotted box of the ellipse), in which only a single heating track 3 extends in the reverse direction multiple times (at least twice), so that the intersection of the imaginary line extending along the width direction of the second surface at the corresponding position and the N heating tracks 3 is greater than 2N.

[0043] At the same time, in order to ensure heating uniformity, the folded areas are arranged in a staggered manner in the length direction (ie, X direction) of the second surface, that is, they do not overlap in the width direction (ie, Y direction) of the second surface. Figure 4-7 In addition, for ease of installation, the heating track 3 does not have a folded area at the position corresponding to the leather groove of the steering wheel. In order to ensure the heating power density, the lengths of the heating tracks 3 are preferably the same.

[0044] In this embodiment, in order to ensure the shielding performance of the hand-off sensing pad, Figure 1-3 and Figure 7 As shown, a shielding track 4 is arranged between each two adjacent heating tracks 3, which are respectively denoted as the first shielding track 4 and the second shielding track 4. Preferably, the spacing between adjacent heating tracks 3 (eg Fig. 9The spacing a) in the figure is greater than 4 mm, and the spacing between adjacent heating tracks 3 and shielding tracks 4 (such as Fig. 9 The spacing b) is between 1-4 mm.

[0045] In an optional embodiment, the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 are both arranged in a wave shape in the extension direction, and the angle between the arc of the wave and the length direction of the second surface is 30-125°.

[0046] In addition, in order to evenly arrange the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 on the insulating substrate 1, there may be intersections between the two during the arrangement process, and therefore an insulating coating needs to be sprayed at the intersections to ensure electrical isolation between the two.

[0047] In an optional embodiment, the terminals 31 at both ends of the heating track 3 are connected to the ECU set in the square disk through the heating harness 6, and the terminals at both ends of the shielding track 4 are connected to the ECU set in the square disk through the shielding harness 7, so that heating and shielding control can be achieved through the ECU.

[0048] In this embodiment, the sensing electrode 2 may be in the form of a conductive fabric or a metal mesh, and may also be made of any conductive material such as aluminum, constantan, copper, German silver, steel, Inconel, brass, CuNi2, etc.

[0049] See again Figure 2 and 3 As shown, the sensing electrode 2 is shown to be bonded to the first surface of the insulating substrate 1 by means of a double-sided adhesive tape 5. It should be understood that other bonding methods may also be used, or the sensing electrode 2 may also be sewn to the first surface.

[0050] The following are three exemplary bonding methods: The first is bonding by double-sided tape. The second is bonding by spraying double-sided adhesive material, that is, first spraying the double-sided adhesive material on the insulating substrate 1, then arranging the sensing electrode 2 thereon, and activating the double-sided adhesive material after a certain temperature (50-100 degrees Celsius) to bond the two. The third is by hot pressing, directly pressing the two at a high temperature (60-150 degrees Celsius).

[0051] The present invention arranges the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 on the second surface of the insulating substrate 1 at the same time, that is, arranges the heating track 3 and the shielding track 4 on the same layer, thereby simplifying the hierarchical structure of the hand-off sensing pad, which saves space and materials and significantly reduces costs. At the same time, the heating function and the shielding function are retained, so that the heating performance and the hand-off detection performance of the steering wheel are not reduced.

[0052] Example 2

[0053] This embodiment provides a steering wheel, which includes a rim, spokes, and a hand-off sensing pad (not shown) as provided in Embodiment 1. The hand-off sensing pad is coated on the rim by a double-sided adhesive tape 5 provided on the bottom surface, and the outermost layer of the rim is coated with leather, which covers the rim and the hand-off sensing pad.

[0054] Since this embodiment adopts the hand-off sensing pad provided in Embodiment 1, it has a simplified hierarchical structure, which saves both space and materials, thereby significantly reducing costs. At the same time, the heating function and shielding function are retained, so that the heating performance and hand-off detection performance of the steering wheel are not reduced.

[0055] Although the specific embodiments of the present invention are described above, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that this is only for illustration and the protection scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims. Those skilled in the art may make various changes or modifications to these embodiments without departing from the principles and essence of the present invention, but these changes and modifications all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A steering wheel hand-off sensor pad, comprising an insulating substrate, characterized in that: The first surface of the insulating substrate is provided with a sensing electrode, and the second surface of the insulating substrate is provided with a heating track and a shielding track that are electrically isolated from each other, and the heating track and the shielding track respectively extend from one end of the insulating substrate to the other end opposite thereto and then extend back to the one end; Wherein, capacitance can be generated between the sensing electrode and the shielding track, and the sensing electrode is used to sense changes in the capacitance, and the heating track is used to heat the steering wheel.

2. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second surface is provided with N heating tracks, N ≥ 2; At least in a local area of ​​the second surface, the number of intersections between an imaginary line extending along the width direction of the second surface and the N heating tracks is greater than 2N.

3. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second surface is provided with three heating tracks, namely a first heating track, a second heating track and a third heating track; The second heating track is arranged around the first heating track, the third heating track is arranged around the second heating track, and one shielding track is arranged between every two adjacent heating tracks.

4. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The local area includes positions corresponding to 3, 9 and 12 o'clock of the steering wheel.

5. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: Each of the heating tracks is formed with a folded area, in which the heating track extends in the reverse direction for multiple times.

6. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad according to claim 4, characterized in that: The folded areas are arranged in a staggered manner in the length direction of the second surface.

7. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: At a position corresponding to the leather groove of the steering wheel, the heating track does not have the return area.

8. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The spacing between adjacent heating tracks is greater than 4 mm, and the spacing between adjacent heating tracks and shielding tracks is between 1 and 4 mm.

9. The steering wheel hand-off sensor pad according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sensing electrode is arranged on the first surface by bonding or sewing; The heating track and the shielding track are arranged on the second surface by bonding or sewing.

10. A steering wheel, characterized in that: The steering wheel comprises a hands-off sensing pad as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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