Patent ID: 7520528

Claim:
A steering wheel assembly comprising: an airbag module having an airbag adapted to be inflated during a vehicle collision; and a centrally-located steering pad which houses said airbag module and said steering pad includes: a deployment segment located around a peripheral region of said steering pad and adapted to be forcibly displaced by the inflation of said airbag; and a stationary segment located in a central region of said steering pad and adapted to be kept in its fixed state even during the inflation of said airbag, said stationary segment being provided with a manual operation section adapted to be manually operated based on either one of rotational and sliding movements so as to control an in-vehicle device, wherein: said deployment segment is placed around said stationary segment and said deployment segment has an inner edge which is displaceable from its ordinary state upon inflation of the airbag; said steering pad has a concave portion in at least a driver facing surface of said stationary segment said manual operation section is disposed within said concave portion in such a manner that a lateral surface of said manual operation section is spaced apart from a lateral wall surface of said concave portion by a distance allowing the lateral surface of said manual operation section to be touched from driver's side; and the lateral surface of said manual operation section is spaced apart from the inner edge of the deployment segment.