Steering Wheel

Abstract

Steering wheel(1). The steering wheel (1) includes a steering wheel rim (20) and a light emitting assembly (10), the steering wheel rim (20) having an internal cavity, the light emitting assembly (10) being provided within the internal cavity and used to illuminate the steering wheel rim (20), the light emitting assembly (10) including a light source (110), a first printed circuit board (100) and a second printed circuit board (200), the light source (110) being provided on the first printed circuit board (100), the second printed circuit board (200) comprising a control assembly for controlling the light source (110), the second printed circuit board (200) being configured to control the light source (110) by electrical connection with the first printed circuit board (100), the first printed circuit board (100) being configured to be a flexible circuit board and the second printed circuit board (200) being configured to be a rigid circuit board.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to automotive components, and in particular to steering wheels. [Background technology]

[0002] The steering wheels of some automobiles can be luminous. The steering wheel rims of these steering wheels are illuminated when the luminous members emit light, so that light is emitted at the wheel rim of the steering wheel. The steering wheels are equipped with luminous steering wheel rims, which in one aspect achieve a decorative effect and make the aesthetics of the steering wheel more improved. In another aspect, when the lighting is insufficient (e.g., at night), the luminous steering wheel rim can provide a lighting function. However, since the steering wheel rim is equipped with a luminous assembly for luminous emission, the steering wheel becomes bulky and heavy. Accordingly, the requirements for the mechanical strength of the frame of the steering wheel become higher, which increases the difficulty of designing the steering wheel. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel that is relatively small and lightweight. Additionally, it is also an object of the present invention to provide a steering wheel in which the light emitting assembly does not add to the design complexity.

[0004] The present invention provides a steering wheel, comprising a steering wheel rim and a lighting assembly, the steering wheel rim having an internal cavity, the lighting assembly being provided within the internal cavity and being used to illuminate the steering wheel rim, The light emitting assembly comprises a light source, a first printed circuit board, and a second printed circuit board, the light source being provided on the first printed circuit board, the second printed circuit board comprising a control assembly for controlling the light source, the second printed circuit board being configured to control the light source by electrical connection with the first printed circuit board; A steering wheel is provided, wherein the first printed circuit board is configured to be a flexible circuit board and the second printed circuit board is configured to be a rigid circuit board.

[0005] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting assembly further comprises a light guiding member, and the steering wheel rim comprises a housing, the light guiding member being provided on a first side of the housing, and the first printed circuit board and the second printed circuit board being provided on a second side opposite the first side of the housing.

[0006] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the housing includes a recess for accommodating the light-guiding member, and the recess includes a protruding portion for fixing the light-guiding member.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the light-guiding member is configured to be a light-guiding tube, and the protruding portion comprises a first protruding portion, a second protruding portion, a third protruding portion, and a fourth protruding portion; a first protruding portion, a second protruding portion and a third protruding portion are provided on each hook-shaped end portion of the light-guiding member, the first protruding portion and the second protruding portion of each hook-shaped end portion face each other in a radial direction of the steering wheel rim and abut against the light-guiding member, and the third protruding portion abuts against the end side of the light-guiding member to prevent the light-guiding member from rotating relative to the housing; The fourth protruding portion is configured to abut against an upper side of the light guide member to hold the light guide member relative to the housing.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present invention, one of the light-guiding member and the recess includes a position-limiting protrusion portion and the other includes a position-limiting recess, and the position-limiting protrusion portion and the position-limiting recess cooperate to limit the position of the light-guiding member relative to the housing.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present invention, another side of the first printed circuit board opposite the side on which the light source is positioned comprises a stiffener portion, at least a portion of which corresponds to the light source in the thickness direction of the first printed circuit board.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first printed circuit board is fixed to the housing by the fixing member and at the stiffener portion.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the housing includes a sliding slot, and the second printed circuit board is configured to slide within the sliding slot relative to the housing and be fixed to the housing.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, one end of the first printed circuit board is inserted into an interface provided on the second printed circuit board to achieve an electrical connection between the first printed circuit board and the second printed circuit board.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the steering wheel rim further comprises a cap fixed to the housing, and light emitted by the light source passes through holes in the housing and the light-guiding member and is then emitted from the cap to illuminate the steering wheel rim. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] Features, advantages, and technical effects of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers refer to like elements, and in which:

[0015] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 illustrates diagrammatically a steering wheel according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 illustrates generally a partial view of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4(a)] FIG. 4(a) is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. [Figure 4(b)] FIG. 4(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along lines EE and II, respectively, of FIG. 4(a). [Figure 4(c)] FIG. 4(c) is a cross-sectional view taken along lines EE and II, respectively, of FIG. 4(a). [Figure 5(a)] FIG. 5(a) is an enlarged view of a portion B of FIG. [Figure 5(b)] FIG. 5(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line FF in FIG. 5(a). [Figure 6(a)] FIG. 6(a) is an enlarged view of a portion C of FIG. [Figure 6(b)] FIG. 6(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along lines HH and GG, respectively, of FIG. 4(a). [Figure 6(c)] FIG. 6(c) is a cross-sectional view taken along lines HH and GG, respectively, of FIG. 4(a). [Figure 7(a)] FIG. 7(a) illustrates a partial view of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7(b)] FIG. 7(b) is an enlarged view of a portion J in FIG. 7(a). [Figure 8] FIG. 8 illustrates generally some components of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9(a)] 9(a) and 9(b) each diagrammatically illustrate a partial view of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to different embodiments of the present invention. [Figure 9(b)]9(b) and 9(b) each diagrammatically illustrate a partial view of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to a different embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9(c)] 9(c) and 9(c) each diagrammatically illustrate a partial view of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to a different embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] A specific implementation of the steering wheel according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following detailed description and the accompanying drawings are used to exemplarily explain the principles of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments described, and the various embodiments described in the present invention can be used individually or in any combination. The protection scope of the present invention is defined by the claims.

[0017] In addition, spatial relationship terms (such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," etc.) are used to describe the relative positional relationship between an element shown in the accompanying drawings and another element. Thus, when used, the spatial relationship terms may apply to orientations other than those shown in the accompanying drawings. Of course, for ease of explanation, these spatial relationship terms all refer to the orientations shown in the accompanying drawings, although one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that orientations other than those shown in the drawings may be used.

[0018] 1 illustrates diagrammatically a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the invention, which is described below with reference to FIG.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 1, the present invention provides a steering wheel 1. The steering wheel 1 includes a steering wheel rim 20 and a light emitting assembly 10, where the light emitting assembly 10 is provided in the steering wheel rim 20. Specifically, the steering wheel rim 20 has an internal cavity, and the light emitting assembly 10 is provided in the internal cavity of the steering wheel rim 20 to be used to illuminate the steering wheel rim 20. As an example, the light emitting assembly 10 is provided in the internal cavity of the steering wheel rim 20, and the entire outer surface of the steering wheel rim 20 is smooth. In particular, the portion of the steering wheel rim 20 on which the light emitting assembly 10 is provided is flush with the remaining portion of the steering wheel rim 20, so that the steering wheel rim 20 has a consistent and complete appearance. In addition, although it can be clearly seen from FIG. 1 that the light emitting assembly 10 of this embodiment is configured in an arc shape, and accordingly, that the light emitting assembly 10 has an arc through which it can emit light, it should be noted that the steering wheel of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the light emitting assembly can also be configured to be other shapes, such as semicircular, circular, and even other irregular shapes.

[0020] 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. A steering wheel lighting assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIG.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 2, the steering wheel 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by an exploded view to more clearly illustrate the structure of the steering wheel 1. As shown in Fig. 2, in the steering wheel 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting assembly 10 includes a light source 110, a first printed circuit board 100, and a second printed circuit board 200. The above-mentioned components of the light emitting assembly 10 will be described in detail below.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the light source 110 is provided on the first printed circuit board 100. In this embodiment, the left end and the right end of the first printed circuit board 100 each include one light source 110 (e.g., an LED). The second printed circuit board 200 includes a control assembly for controlling the light source 110, for example, to control an action such as turning on / off the light source 110. For this purpose, one end of the first printed circuit board 100 (the end portion of the first printed circuit board 100 located to the left of the left light source 110 in FIG. 2) is inserted into an interface provided on the second printed circuit board 200 to achieve an electrical connection between the first printed circuit board 100 and the second printed circuit board 200, whereby the second printed circuit board 200 is configured to control the light source 110 by electrical connection with the first printed circuit board 100. In addition, the first printed circuit board 100 is configured to be a flexible circuit board, and the second printed circuit board 200 is configured to be a rigid circuit board.

[0023] In the light-emitting assembly of the steering wheel of the present invention, the light source is provided on a flexible circuit board, and a control assembly for controlling the light source is provided on a rigid printed circuit board, so that the size of the rigid circuit board can be configured to be as small as possible, and the flexible circuit board is used to meet the requirements for distribution, mounting, etc. of the light source of the light-emitting assembly, thereby enabling the steering wheel of the present invention to emit light, ensuring that the light-emitting assembly and accordingly the steering wheel are relatively small and lightweight, and ensuring that the light-emitting assembly does not increase the difficulty of design.

[0024] A steering wheel 10 according to an embodiment of the invention is further described below with reference to FIG.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2 , the light emitting assembly 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a light-guiding member 300 , and the steering wheel rim 20 includes a housing 400 .

[0026] 8, the light-guiding member 300 may be configured in a tubular shape and have a curved first end 301 and a second end 302. Furthermore, in order to achieve uniform light emission, a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the light-guiding member 300 is machined into a flat surface, which is provided with a plurality of optical teeth 304. The plurality of optical teeth 304 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the light-guiding member 300. As another example, the light-guiding member 300 may also be an optical fiber.

[0027] As an example, as shown in Fig. 4(b) or Fig. 4(c), the housing 400 is substantially in a semicircular arc shape. In addition, two ends of the housing 400 are fixed (e.g., bonded) to the foam 700. The light-guiding member 300 is provided on a first side of the housing 400, and the first printed circuit board 100 and the second printed circuit board 200 are provided on a second side opposite to the first side of the housing 400. Specifically, in Fig. 2, the first side of the housing 400 corresponds to a lower side (shown in Fig. 2), and the second side of the housing 400 corresponds to an upper side (not shown in Fig. 2).

[0028] In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the steering wheel 1 further includes a cap 500, a rigid body 600, a foam body 700, and a sheath 800. The rigid body 600 is provided in the foam body 700 to provide a rigid support for the entire steering wheel rim 20. As described above, the foam body 700 is used to fix the housing 400 and may also be involved in forming, at least in part, the shape of the steering wheel rim. The sheath 800 defines the outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel rim 20 together with the cap 500, and the sheath 800 is fixed to the housing 400 (for example, as shown in FIG. 4(b) and FIG. 4(c), a portion of the sheath is inserted into a slit provided in the housing 400). In addition, the cap 500 is configured to be a transparent member and is fixed to the housing 400. Light emitted by the light source 110 passes through a hole in the housing 400 and the light-guiding member 300 (as shown in Figure 6(a) or 6(b)) and then emits from the cap 500 to illuminate the steering wheel rim.

[0029] A first side of the housing 400 includes a recess 400A for receiving the light-guiding member 300 and the cap 500, which will be described in more detail below.

[0030] FIG. 3 illustrates a partial view of a light-emitting assembly of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4(a) is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4(b) and FIG. 4(c) are cross-sectional views taken along lines EE and II of FIG. 4(a), respectively. FIG. 5(a) is an enlarged view of a portion B of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along lines FF of FIG. 5(a). FIG. 6(a) is an enlarged view of a portion C of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6(b) and FIG. 6(c) are cross-sectional views taken along lines HH and GG of FIG. 4(a), respectively. A steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to these accompanying drawings.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 3, a recess 400A provided in the first side housing surface 400 for receiving the light guiding member 300 and the cap 500 includes structures for fixing the light guiding member 300 and the cap 500, respectively.

[0032] 4(c), the housing 400 is provided with fifth protruding portions 405 in the recess 400A. The fifth protruding portions 405 are inserted into holes in the cap 500, and the cap 500 is fixed to the housing 400. As an example, the fifth protruding portions 405 are arranged in pairs and evenly distributed along the recess 400A.

[0033] Referring to Figures 4(b) and 5(b), the housing 400 has a fourth protruding portion 404 in the recess 400A, and the fourth protruding portion 404 is configured to abut against the upper side of the light-guiding member 300 and hold the light-guiding member 300 relative to the housing 400.

[0034] 6(b) and 6(c), the housing 400 includes a first protruding portion 401, a second protruding portion 402, and a third protruding portion 403 in the recess 400A, and the first protruding portion 401, the second protruding portion 402, and the third protruding portion 403 are provided on the hook-shaped end portions 301 and 302 of the light-guiding member 300, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6(b), the first protruding portion 401 and the second protruding portion 402 of each of the hook-shaped end portions face each other in the radial direction of the steering wheel rim 20 and abut against the light-guiding member 300 to prevent the light-guiding member 300 from rotating around its axial direction. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the third protruding portion 403 abuts against the end side of the light-guiding member 300 to prevent the end portion of the light-guiding member 300 from bending upward relative to the housing 400. Therefore, the first protruding portion 401, the second protruding portion 402, and the third protruding portion 403 advantageously prevent the light-guiding member 300 from rotating relative to the housing 400. As an example, the first protruding portion 401, the second protruding portion 402, and the third protruding portion 403 are each configured to be at a certain distance from the housing 400, for example, 0.1 to 0.2 millimeters, so that the light-guiding member 300 is smoothly mounted in the housing 400.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 4(b), the light-guiding member 300 is provided with a position-limiting protruding portion 303 (the position-limiting protruding portion 303 is more clearly shown in FIG. 8). Accordingly, the recess is provided with a position-limiting recess (not shown), and the position-limiting protruding portion 303 and the position-limiting recess cooperate to limit the position of the light-guiding member 300 relative to the housing 400 so as to quickly position the light-guiding member 300 in the housing 300 during mounting. It can be understood that this is merely an example, and the steering wheel of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a position-limiting protruding portion can be provided on the housing, and a position-limiting recess is provided on the light-guiding member accordingly.

[0036] Figure 7(a) is a schematic diagram illustrating a partial view of a lighting assembly of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 7(b) is an enlarged view of a portion J of Figure 7(a).

[0037] As shown in Fig. 7(b), the housing 400 includes a sliding slot 406, and the second printed circuit board 200 is configured to slide in the sliding slot 406 relative to the housing 400 and be fixed to the housing 400. Specifically, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 7(b), the second printed circuit board 300 slides from right to left in the sliding slot 406. The thickness of the sliding slot 406 decreases stepwise from right to left, such that the second printed circuit board is firmly held in the sliding slot 406 when the second printed circuit board 300 sliding leftward in the sliding slot 406 reaches a position where the thickness of the sliding slot 406 is slightly thinner than the thickness of the second printed circuit board.

[0038] It should be noted that the above embodiment is merely an example, and the steering wheel of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the second printed circuit board can also be directly welded to the housing, or fixed to the housing by a fixing member such as a screw. In addition, the tubular light-guiding member can also be prevented from rotating relative to the housing in another manner. The anti-rotation structure for the light-guiding member can be omitted if the light-guiding member is not tubular in shape.

[0039] Figures 9(a), 9(b) and 9(c) respectively illustrate schematic partial views of a steering wheel lighting assembly according to different embodiments of the present invention. The lighting assembly according to embodiments of the present invention will be further described below with reference to Figures 9(a), 9(b) and 9(c).

[0040] As shown in FIG. 9(a), the first printed circuit board 100 is welded to the housing 400. Specifically, the first printed circuit board 100 is fixed to the housing 400 by a welding leg 701. The upper side of the first printed circuit board 100 includes the light source 110, and another side opposite to the side where the light source 100 is located (i.e., the lower side) includes a stiffener portion 704, at least a portion of which corresponds to the light source 100 in the thickness direction of the first printed circuit board 100 to provide rigid support for the light source 100. In addition, the side of the first printed circuit board 100 where the light source 100 is provided further includes an adhesive 705. The adhesive 705 is represented by a dotted portion in FIG. 7(a). The adhesive 705 is used to bond the first printed circuit board 100 to the housing 400, so that the first printed circuit board 100 and the housing 400 are more firmly fixed to each other. It can be understood that the first printed circuit board 100 is not necessarily secured to the housing 400 by welding, and can be secured to the housing in other manners, such as screws (shown in FIG. 9(b)), fasteners (shown in FIG. 9(c)), etc.

[0041] As mentioned above, exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A steering wheel (1) comprising a steering wheel rim (20) and a lighting assembly (10), the steering wheel rim (20) having an internal cavity, the lighting assembly (10) being provided within the internal cavity and used to illuminate the steering wheel rim (20), The light emitting assembly (10) comprises a light source (110), a first printed circuit board (100) and a second printed circuit board (200), the light source (110) being provided on the first printed circuit board (100), the second printed circuit board (200) comprising a control assembly for controlling the light source (110), the second printed circuit board (200) being configured to control the light source (110) by electrical connection with the first printed circuit board (100); The first printed circuit board (100) is configured to be a flexible circuit board, and the second printed circuit board (200) is configured to be a rigid circuit board; A steering wheel (1), characterized in that the light emitting assembly (10) further comprises a light guiding member (300), the steering wheel rim (20) comprises a housing (400), the light guiding member (300) is provided on a first side of the housing (400), and the first printed circuit board (100) and the second printed circuit board (200) are provided on a second side of the housing (400) opposite the first side.

2. The housing (400) has a recess (400A) for accommodating the light-guiding member (300), and the recess (400A) has a protruding portion for fixing the light-guiding member (300), The light-guiding member (300) is configured to be a light guide tube, and the protruding portion includes a first protruding portion (401), a second protruding portion (402), and a third protruding portion (403); 2. The steering wheel (1) of claim 1, wherein the first protruding portion (401), the second protruding portion (402), and the third protruding portion (403) are provided on each hook-shaped end portion of the light-guiding member (300), the first protruding portion (401) and the second protruding portion (402) of each hook-shaped end portion face each other in the radial direction of the steering wheel rim (20) and abut against the light-guiding member (300), and the third protruding portion (403) abuts against the end side of the light-guiding member (300) to prevent the light-guiding member (300) from rotating relative to the housing (400).

3. The protruding portion further includes a fourth protruding portion (404), 3. The steering wheel (1) of claim 2, wherein the fourth protruding portion (404) is configured to abut against an upper side of the light-guiding member (300) to hold the light-guiding member (300) against the housing (400).

4. 4. A steering wheel (1) as described in claim 3, wherein one of the light-guiding member (300) and the recess (400A) has a position-limiting protruding portion (303) and the other has a position-limiting recess, and the position-limiting protruding portion (303) and the position-limiting recess cooperate to limit the position of the light-guiding member (300) relative to the housing (400).

5. 2. The steering wheel (1) of claim 1, wherein another side of the first printed circuit board (100) opposite to the side on which the light source (110) is positioned comprises a stiffener portion (704), at least a portion of the stiffener portion (704) corresponding to the light source (110) in a thickness direction of the first printed circuit board (100).

6. 6. A steering wheel (1) according to claim 5, wherein the first printed circuit board (100) is fixed to the housing (400) by fastening members and at the stiffener portions (704).

7. 2. The steering wheel (1) of claim 1, wherein the housing (400) has a sliding slot (406), and the second printed circuit board (200) is configured to slide within the sliding slot (406) relative to the housing (400) and be fixed to the housing (400).

8. 8. A steering wheel (1) according to claim 7, wherein one end of the first printed circuit board (100) is inserted into an interface provided on the second printed circuit board (200) to achieve an electrical connection between the first printed circuit board (100) and the second printed circuit board (200).

9. 2. The steering wheel (1) of claim 1, wherein the steering wheel rim (20) further comprises a cap (500) fixed to the housing (400), and the light emitted by the light source (110) passes through a hole in the housing (400) and the light-guiding member (300) and is then emitted from the cap (500) to illuminate the steering wheel rim (20).

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