Steering wheel

Abstract

The utility model provides a steering wheel. The steering wheel comprises a steering wheel body and a functional part arranged on the steering wheel body, the functional part comprises a first conductive filament and a second conductive filament which are connected with each other at a preset position, the first conductive filament has a first resistance value, the second conductive filament has a second resistance value, and the second conductive filament has a second resistance value. The first resistance value is smaller than the second resistance value, the first conductive filament and the second conductive filament of the functional part jointly execute a hand-leaving detection function, and only the first conductive filament executes a heating function.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of automotive parts, in particular to a steering wheel. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of vehicle technology, the intelligentization of vehicles has become an important development direction. The functions of vehicles have also increased accordingly, and these functions are turned on or off by switch buttons. Therefore, as an important component in the vehicle steering system, the steering wheel is not only used as a steering component but also has more functions, such as functions like audio control, cruise control, Bluetooth, and vehicle computer can all be realized through the steering wheel.

[0003] HOD (Hand Off Detection) is a type of ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance System) and is also a requirement for L1 - L4 level vehicle autonomous driving systems. HOD is being gradually taken more seriously by more and more vehicle manufacturers. However, limited by the distribution density of detection elements on the steering wheel, the sensitivity of HOD detection is relatively low.

[0004] Therefore, a steering wheel with a highly sensitive hand - off detection function is needed. Summary of the Utility Model

[0005] The utility model provides a steering wheel which has a relatively sensitive hand - off detection.

[0006] The utility model provides a steering wheel, which includes a steering wheel body and functional components arranged on the steering wheel body.

[0007] Wherein,

[0008] The functional components include a first conductive filament and a second conductive filament connected to each other at a predetermined position.

[0009] The first conductive filament has a first resistance value, the second conductive filament has a second resistance value, and the first resistance value is less than the second resistance value.

[0010] The first conductive filament and the second conductive filament of the functional component jointly perform the hand - off detection function, and only the first conductive filament performs the heating function.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the utility model, the first conductive filament and the second conductive filament are arranged at intervals from each other at positions other than the predetermined position, and the maximum distance between the first conductive filament and the second conductive filament is in the range of 2.5 millimeters to 3 millimeters.

[0012] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the first resistance value ranges from 1.3 ohms to 8 ohms.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the second resistance value ranges from 1000 ohms to 10000 ohms.

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the steering wheel includes a carrier layer, and the first conductive filament and the second conductive filament are embedded in the carrier layer.

[0015] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, one first conductive filament and one second conductive filament are provided, and the first conductive filament and the second conductive filament extend along the same predetermined path in the carrier layer to cover the entire carrier layer.

[0016] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the carrier layer is fixed to a heating pad, the heating pad is arranged to wrap the entire outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel body, and

[0017] the steering wheel further includes a covering layer located outside the heating pad and a foaming structure layer located between the heating pad and the steering wheel body.

[0018] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the steering wheel body is configured as a metal body.

[0019] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the predetermined path has a plurality of bent sections.

[0020] According to an embodiment of the present utility model, the covering layer is a skin. Description of the Drawings

[0021] The features, advantages, and technical effects of exemplary embodiments of the present utility model will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same elements, where:

[0022] Figure 1 Schematic diagram showing a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0023] Figure 2 Schematic cross-sectional view showing the rim of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0024] Figure 3 Schematic diagram showing some components in a steering wheel according to the present utility model. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0025] The following will describe the specific embodiments of the steering wheel according to the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following detailed description and drawings are used to exemplarily illustrate the principles of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the described preferred embodiments. Each of the embodiments described in the present invention can be used alone or in any combination. The protection scope of the present invention is defined by the claims.

[0026] In addition, spatially relative terms (such as "upper", "lower", "left", and "right", etc.) are used to describe the relative positional relationship between an element shown in the drawings and another element. Therefore, the spatially relative terms can be applied to directions different from those shown in the drawings when in use. Obviously, although for the sake of easy explanation, all these spatially relative terms refer to the directions shown in the drawings, those skilled in the art can understand that directions different from those shown in the drawings can be used.

[0027] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The following will refer to Figure 1 Describe the steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] As Figure 1 shown, the steering wheel 1 includes a rim 10, a steering wheel center portion 20, and radial members 30 extending between the rim 10 and the steering wheel center portion 20, and the rim 10 is arranged around the steering wheel center portion 20. It can be observed from Figure 1 that in this embodiment, two radial members 30 are shown, and the following description will be based on the steering wheel shown in Figure 1 Of course, this is only an example, and the present invention does not specifically limit the number of radial members. For example, the steering wheel of the present invention can be provided with other numbers (such as three) of radial members according to actual needs, and in addition, the steering wheel of the present invention can also be provided without radial members. Furthermore, although Figure 1 the shown rim is a generally closed annular member, the steering wheel of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the steering wheel of the present invention can also be provided with a rim having a notch in the circumferential direction.

[0029] Generally, a transmission member (not shown) is configured to transmit torque between the steering wheel 1 and a steering column (not shown). For example, torque is transmitted between the steering wheel center portion 20 of the steering wheel 1 and the steering column, so as to transmit the torque applied by the driver on the steering wheel 1 to the steering column to perform the steering operation of the vehicle.

[0030] And, in the steering wheel assembly 1 of the present invention, it further includes electrical components provided on the rim 10 ( Figure 1The first electronic device is disposed at the center of the steering wheel 20, and the second electronic device is disposed at the radial member 30. As an example, the electrical components may include electrical components for hand-off detection and / or electrical components for steering wheel heating, and the first electronic device and the second electronic device may be configured as display devices, and the driver may trigger multiple functions through the first electronic device and the second electronic device, such as cruise control, multimedia playback, etc. The specific structure of the rim 10 of the steering wheel is described in detail below.

[0031] Figure 2 The cross-sectional schematic diagram of the rim of the steering wheel according to the embodiment of the utility model is shown. It should be noted that: Figure 2 The cross section obtained by cutting the rim with a plane perpendicular to the circumferential extension direction of the rim, that is, a schematic diagram of the cross section of the rim of the steering wheel. The rim of the steering wheel according to the utility model is described in detail below.

[0032] like Figure 2 As shown, the wheel rim 10 includes a steering wheel body 101, a foam structure layer 102, a heating pad 103 and a covering layer 104 which are sequentially arranged from the inside to the outside. These parts of the wheel rim 10 are described in detail below.

[0033] In one embodiment of the present invention, the steering wheel body 101 can be constructed as a metal body. The metal body is made of, for example, a relatively rigid alloy material, thereby ensuring that the entire steering wheel rim has sufficient rigidity. At the same time, the steering wheel body 101 is located at the innermost side of the rim 10, providing rigid support for other components or other layers of the rim 10 in the form of a skeleton.

[0034] The foamed structural layer 102 covers the steering wheel body 101, defining a substantially cylindrical shape of the rim 10. Moreover, the foamed structural layer is made of a lightweight material, which helps the rim 10 and the entire steering wheel 1 to have a lighter weight.

[0035] The covering layer 104 is located at the outermost side of the rim 10. The covering layer 104 is the outer side of the rim 10, and is configured as a skin, for example, so that the appearance of the steering wheel 1 has an aesthetic effect.

[0036] A heating pad 103 is disposed between the foaming structure layer 102 and the coating layer 104. The heating pad 103 is provided with the electrical components / functional parts mentioned above, and the functional parts perform the hand-off detection function and the heating function. Figure 3 The following is a partial schematic diagram of the heating pad 103. Figure 3 The heating pad 103 is described in detail.

[0037] like Figure 3As shown, the functional component includes a first conductive filament 40 and a second conductive filament 50, and the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 are connected to each other at a predetermined position C. In one example, there is only one connection point between the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50; in another example, more connection points can be provided between the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50, for example, two connection points.

[0038] In the steering wheel 1 of the present utility model, the first conductive filament 40 has a first resistance value, the second conductive filament 50 has a second resistance value, and the first resistance value is less than the second resistance value. In one example, the first resistance value is in the range of 1.3 ohms to 8 ohms. In one example, the second resistance value is in the range of 1000 ohms to 10000 ohms. Specifically, the first resistance value can be set to 1.8 ohms, and the second resistance value can be set to 1000 ohms.

[0039] It can be understood that in the steering wheel of the present utility model, the second resistance value is set to be much larger than the first resistance value. Therefore, relative to the first conductive filament, the second conductive filament can be regarded as a conductive filament that hardly generates heat; and even if the first conductive filament contacts the second conductive filament, the contact between the two conductive filaments will not cause a short circuit.

[0040] Based on the above settings, in the steering wheel of the present utility model, the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 of the functional component jointly perform the hand-off detection function, and only the first conductive filament 40 performs the heating function.

[0041] It should be noted that since the contact between the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 will not cause a short circuit, the distance between the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 can be set to be very small. Specifically, except at the predetermined position C, the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 are arranged at intervals from each other, and the maximum interval distance between the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 is in the range of 2.5 millimeters to 3 millimeters. Taking Figure 3 the shown first conductive filament 40 and second conductive filament 50 as an example, the two conductive filaments extend in a sine curve manner, and there is a first interval distance between a vertex of the first conductive filament 40 and the vertex of the second conductive filament 50 corresponding to the corresponding vertex of the first conductive filament 40, and this interval distance is, for example, 3 millimeters. And there is a second interval distance between the midpoint at the middle position in the longitudinal direction of the first conductive filament 50 and the midpoint of the second conductive filament 50 corresponding to the midpoint of the first conductive filament 50 in the transverse direction, and this second interval distance is, for example, 2.5 millimeters.

[0042] In contrast, in existing steering wheels, conductive filaments with only the same resistance value or similar resistance values are provided. In this way, in order to reduce the risk of short circuit caused by contact between the conductive filaments, the spacing distance between the conductive filaments has to be set to be large, usually greater than 5 millimeters, resulting in a small distribution density of the conductive filaments on the rim 10.

[0043] In the steering wheel of the present utility model, by providing a first conductive filament 40 and a second conductive filament 50 with a large difference in resistance values on the rim 10, the spacing distance between the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 can be set to be small, whereby the two conductive filaments are distributed on the rim in a denser manner. It can be understood that conductive filaments with a large distribution density on the rim are beneficial to providing a high-sensitivity hand-off detection function.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present utility model, one first conductive filament 40 and one second conductive filament 50 are provided, and the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament extend along the same predetermined path. For example, the predetermined path has a plurality of curved sections and passes through various parts of the carrier layer 1031 of the heating pad 103, so that the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 extending along the predetermined path cover the entire carrier layer 1031. Of course, this is only an example, and the steering wheel of the present utility model is not limited thereto. For example, multiple first conductive filaments can be provided, and these conductive filaments are connected end to end in sequence to form a combined first conductive filament, and / or multiple first conductive filaments can be provided, and these conductive filaments are connected end to end in sequence to form a combined second conductive filament.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the carrier layer 1031 may be a woven piece formed by weaving a plurality of filaments. In such a setting, the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 are part of the plurality of filaments, and together with other filaments, are embedded into the carrier layer 1031 via weaving. In this way, the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 are arranged on the same layer. Of course, this is only an example, and the first conductive filament and the second conductive filament may also be embedded into the carrier layer by other means. Thereafter, the carrier layer may be fixed to a specific part of the heating pad 103 by means of adhesion. In one example, via connection points at predetermined positions, the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 are connected to the same control module, which controls the turning on and off of the heating function and analyzes the signal for detecting the hand-off. Specifically, when a grip force applied by the driver to the rim 10 is received, based on the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50, a human hand detection electrode is formed to generate a hand-holding signal of the driver; when the driver's hand leaves the rim 10, a hand-off signal of the driver is generated to identify that the steering wheel 1 is in the driver's hand-off state. Optionally, a hand-off reminder device is further provided on the steering wheel 1, which triggers a reminder function when it detects that the driver's hand has left the steering wheel 1 to improve driving safety; the hand-off reminder device may include a combination of one or more of an acoustic reminder device, an optical reminder device, and a tactile reminder device. It should be noted that although Figure 3 it is shown that the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 extend in a sine curve manner, this is only an example. In order to be distributed throughout the carrier layer 1031 and adapt to the shape of the carrier layer 1031, the first conductive filament 40 and the second conductive filament 50 may have a variety of different predetermined paths, including a combination of a linear path and an arc path.

[0046] In an embodiment of the present utility model, the heating pad 103 is arranged to wrap the entire outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel body 101. In other words, the heating pad 103 extends in the entire circumference of the steering wheel body 101, and in a cross-section (as Figure 2 shown) perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the steering wheel body 101, the heating pad 103 also extends in the entire circumference of this cross-section, thereby covering the entire outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel body 101. It can be understood that such a setting can provide full-coverage hand-off detection for the rim 10 of the steering wheel 1, which is beneficial to improving the accuracy of hand-off detection.

[0047] As described above, although the exemplary embodiments of the present utility model have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the description, the present utility model is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and the protection scope of the present utility model should be defined by the claims and their equivalent meanings.

Claims

1. A steering wheel (1), comprising a steering wheel body (101) and functional parts arranged on the steering wheel body (101), It is characterized in that The functional part includes a first conductive filament (40) and a second conductive filament (50) connected to each other at a predetermined position (C), The first conductive filament (40) has a first resistance value, the second conductive filament (50) has a second resistance value, and the first resistance value is smaller than the second resistance value. The first conductive filament (40) and the second conductive filament (50) of the functional part jointly perform a hand-off detection function, and only the first conductive filament (40) performs a heating function.

2. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The first conductive filament (40) and the second conductive filament (50) are arranged to be spaced apart from each other at positions other than the predetermined position (C), and the maximum spacing distance between the first conductive filament (40) and the second conductive filament (50) is in the range of 2.5 mm to 3 mm.

3. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The first resistance value is in the range of 1.3 ohms to 8 ohms.

4. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 3, wherein: The second resistance value is in the range of 1000 ohms to 10000 ohms.

5. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The steering wheel (1) comprises a carrier layer (1031), and the first conductive filaments (40) and the second conductive filaments (50) are embedded in the carrier layer (1031).

6. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 5, wherein: A first conductive filament (40) and a second conductive filament (50) are provided, and the first conductive filament (40) and the second conductive filament (50) extend along the same predetermined path on the carrier layer (1031) to spread throughout the entire carrier layer (1031).

7. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 5, wherein: The carrier layer (1031) is fixed to a heating pad (103), the heating pad (103) is arranged to wrap the entire outer circumference of the steering wheel body (101), and, The steering wheel (1) further comprises a covering layer (104) located outside the heating pad (103) and a foaming structure layer (102) located between the heating pad (103) and the steering wheel body (101).

8. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 7, wherein: The steering wheel body (101) is constructed as a metal body.

9. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 6, wherein: The predetermined path has a plurality of curved sections.

10. The steering wheel (1) according to claim 7, wherein: The covering layer (104) is a skin.

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