Patent Publication Number: US-2009223321-A1

Title: Vehicle Steering Wheel

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel. 
     The steering wheel according to the present invention is particularly advantageous for use in high-performance sports vehicles, and comprises a box body fixed to the steering column of the vehicle and housing an air bag; and a circular member operated by the driver of the vehicle to control a steering shaft mounted for rotation inside the steering column. 
     The steering wheel also comprises at least one control lever projecting radially outwards from the steering column and for operating, for example, a direction indicator of the vehicle; and at least one actuating member mounted between said circular member and said control lever to operate the vehicle transmission. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Since the control lever is operated by the driver of the vehicle with both hands on said circular member, known steering wheels of the above type have several drawbacks, mainly due to the control lever—because of its location on the steering column and with respect to the transmission actuating member—being relatively far away from the circular member and, hence, from the driver&#39;s hands. Operation of the control lever is therefore relatively awkward, and calls for a relatively small transmission actuating member to avoid further impeding grip of the control lever. 
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle steering wheel designed to eliminate the above drawbacks, and which is cheap and easy to produce. 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle steering wheel as recited in Claim  1 . 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a schematic view in perspective of a non-limiting embodiment. 
     
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
     Number  1  in the accompanying drawing indicates as a whole a steering wheel for steering the wheels (not shown) of a high-performance sports vehicle (not shown). 
     Steering wheel  1  comprises a box body  2  in turn comprising a substantially cup-shaped body  3  fixed to a free end of a steering column  4  and defining a cavity (not shown), which is positioned with its concavity facing the driver of the vehicle, opens outwards at a front face  5  of body  3 , and is closed by a front cover  6  to define a chamber for housing an air bag (not shown). 
     Steering wheel  1  also comprises a circular member  7 , which extends about body  3 , is fitted in angularly fixed manner to a steering shaft (not shown) mounted for rotation inside steering column  4 , and is operated by the driver of the vehicle to control the steering shaft (not shown) and so steer the wheels (not shown) of the vehicle. 
     Steering wheel  1  also comprises two actuating members  8  extending radially outwards from steering column  4  and by which the driver controls the transmission, of the vehicle. In a variation not shown, at least one of members  8  comprises indicator lights defined, for example, by LEDs and for indicating to the driver when to operate members  8  and, therefore, the vehicle transmission. 
     Body  2  also comprises two control levers  9 , which are housed inside respective sunken seats  10  formed in a peripheral edge of face  5 , and are located on opposite sides of a longitudinal plane of symmetry of body  2  and between members  8  and the driver. 
     Each lever  9  is fitted in rotary manner to body  3  to rotate with respect to body  3  about a given hinge axis  11 , and is fitted in sliding manner to body  3  to perform straight movements with respect to body  3  in a direction  12  parallel to axis  11 . 
     Levers  9  allow the driver to control auxiliary devices (not shown) of the vehicle, such as, for example, direction indicators, windscreen-wipers, and/or external lighting devices (not shown). 
     Face  5  is also fitted with a vehicle ignition switch  13 ; a luminous LED display  14 ; and, in the example shown, two switches  15 , each of which is fitted in rotary manner to face  5  to rotate, with respect to body  2  and about an axis of rotation  16  substantially parallel to axes  11 , between at least two operating positions, each corresponding to a respective dynamic performance of the vehicle. 
     Switches  15  therefore provide for selectively controlling the dynamic performance of the vehicle as a function of the driving style selected by the driver, e.g. for driving on very low-grip road surfaces, on low-grip road surfaces, on good-grip road surfaces, in safe touring conditions, or in on-track competition conditions. 
     Face  5  is also fitted with two knobs  17 , each of which has a longitudinal axis  18  substantially parallel to axes  16 , and has a number of (in the example shown, four) selection members  19 , which are arranged about axis  18  and each allow the driver to select a respective. function of the vehicle, such as, for example, the volume of the vehicle radio, the air-conditioning/heating system fan, or other functions. 
     Each knob  17  is fitted in rotary manner to face  5  to rotate, with respect to body  2 , about respective axis  18 , and to selectively control the level of the function selected by members  19 . 
     Steering wheel  1  also comprises a number of reconfigurable light buttons  20  arranged side by side and located between two selection buttons  21 , which permit display of the selected vehicle function on buttons  20 , such as, for example, different radio stations, or different CDs, or different interior vehicle lighting devices.