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US 11,590,999 B2Granted
Heatable touch sensor and steering wheel having such a touch sensor
AssigneeVolkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsBranislav Zlatkov, Zoran Djinovic, Nils Quander, Markus Danschacher, Klaus Utech, Patrick Nickel
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Abstract
The invention relates to a heatable touch sensor and a steering wheel. It has an optical waveguide which is connected to an electrical heat conductor. The optical waveguide changes its transmission behavior, which is determined, with a change in position or bending. The heat conductor is a resistance heater which emits heat by applying an electrical voltage and by the associated current flow. The touch sensor operates by means of optical interferometry, which enables a very high sensing accuracy.
Claims13
A steering wheel comprising:
- a metallic core;
- a support structure, made of thermoplastic material, contacting an exterior surface of the metallic core and disposed around the metallic core;
- a heat insulating foam matrix disposed around the support structure;
- a thermally conductive film disposed around the heat insulating foam matrix;
- a cover disposed around the thermally conductive film;
- a heatable touch sensor embedded within the heat insulating foam matrix, and substantially having a thickness extending from the support structure to the thermally conductive film, the heatable touch sensor comprising:
- an optical waveguide;
- an electrical heat conductor disposed around the optical waveguide;
- wherein touch sensing by the heatable touch sensor is carried out via optical interferometry.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.