Steering Wheel Light Guide With Holes For Uniform Friction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Steering wheels that present information via light suffer from reduced touch feeling and appearance issues due to varying friction and excessive brightness when gripped and irradiated, affecting driver experience.
Innovation Solution
A steering wheel design featuring a light source, light guide body, and a covering portion with holes to diffuse and emit light, reducing friction variation and external light reflection, while using a cover or light diffusion sheet to enhance appearance by minimizing visibility of internal components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a cover is exposed at the ring portion to allow light emission, then information presentation function is improved, but touch feeling deteriorates due to varying friction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a covering portion with holes at specific locations where light emission is needed, while maintaining the original cover structure in other areas. This allows the gripping portion to have uniform friction characteristics across most surfaces, while still enabling light to pass through designated hole regions for information presentation.
2Loss of information
If a cover is exposed at the ring portion to allow light emission, then information presentation function is improved, but appearance deteriorates due to external light reflection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a covering portion with holes at specific locations where light emission is needed, while maintaining the original cover structure in other areas. This allows the gripping portion to have uniform friction characteristics across most surfaces, while still enabling light to pass through designated hole regions for information presentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The covering portion acts as an intermediary element between the exposed cover and the external environment. It selectively allows light to pass through the holes while blocking external light from reflecting off the cover surface, thus mediating between the need for light emission and the need to prevent external light reflection.
3Ease of operation
If the covering portion completely surrounds the light guide body, then friction uniformity is improved, but light emission is blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the porous materials principle by creating a covering portion with holes rather than a completely solid structure. This allows the covering portion to surround the light guide body and provide uniform friction characteristics while still permitting light to pass through the holes for information presentation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Improves touch feeling and appearance by maintaining consistent friction and reducing light reflection, allowing for effective information presentation to the driver without compromising the steering wheel's aesthetics.
Implementation Method 1
The light is diffused by the light guide body and is emitted from the emission surface of the light guide body
Implementation Method 2
The covering portion is irradiated with most of the external light. The external light enters the inside of the covering portion only through the hole. Therefore, the external light is reduced or prevented from being reflected on the inside of the covering portion
Data Source
AI summary
A steering wheel includes a gripping portion that is gripped by a driver when a conveyance is steered, a light source that is disposed inside the gripping portion and is configured to emit light, a light guide body that is disposed inside the gripping portion such that an end portion of the light guide body faces the light source, the light guide body including an emission surface that is configured to emit light from the light source and incident on the end portion and that is formed on a surface on a driver side, and a covering portion that surrounds the light guide body and forms an outer layer portion of at least a part of the gripping portion around the light guide body. The covering portion is formed with a hole, through which light emitted from the emission surface passes.