Patent ID: 8024090

Claim:
A vehicle steering system, comprising: a steering wheel including a steering rim, a rim shape changing mechanism that allows one portion of the steering rim to move with respect to another portion of the steering rim to change a shape of the steering rim between a first shape, which is an annular shape, and a second shape, which is a partially annular shape, and a rim drive device that includes a drive power source and that operates the one portion of the steering rim using power from the drive power source; a control unit that controls the rim drive device; and an airbag device that deploys an airbag toward a driver, wherein the drive power source is disposed within the another portion of the steering rim, wherein the steering rim is kept in the second shape in a regular state, and wherein the control unit includes an airbag deployment-time control unit that controls the rim drive device to change the shape of the steering rim from the second shape to the first shape when the airbag needs to be deployed.