Method for detecting the position of hands on a steering wheel
AssigneeRobert Bosch GmbH
InventorsMarkus Klausner, Wolfgang Grimm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A steering wheel (1) for a vehicle is proposed, which . . . 2 plural sensors (7) and (9). The sensors (7) and (9) are distributed into numerous segments (13) and (15) and thus enable the position of the hands on the steering wheel (1) to be detected with high local resolution. A method according to the invention for analyzing the signals supplied by the sensors (7) and (9) makes it possible to detect the position of the hands, and the maximum possible steering angle that can be set at the steering wheel (1) without changing the grip is also determined. Control actions and control signals can be derived from this information by means of a control unit. 2TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: Verb missing; presumably “comprises.”
Claims17
A steering wheel for a vehicle, comprising a steering ring (3), a hub and at least one spoke (5) connecting said steering ring (3) and said hub, sensors being arranged on said steering ring (3), characterized in that said sensors (7, 9) are arranged distributed over the periphery of said steering ring (3), said sensors (7, 9) extend over the entire length of said steering ring (3), and said sensors (7, 9) are divided into plural segments (13, 15) arranged successively in the longitudinal direction (11) of said steering ring (3).
The steering wheel as recited in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said segments (13, 15) of sensors (7, 9) are shorter than one finger width in the longitudinal direction (11) of said steering ring (3) and the distance between two segments (13, 15) of a sensor (7, 9) in the longitudinal direction (11) of said steering ring (3) is smaller than one finger width.
The steering wheel as recited in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said sensors (7, 9) are resistively, capacitively or inductively operating sensors.
A method for detecting the position of hands on a steering wheel (1) equipped with sensors (7, 9), characterized by the following method steps:
- numbering the segments (11, 13) of said sensors (7, 9),
- detecting the segments (11, 13) that are being affected by the hand or hands touching said steering ring (3),
- determining the position of the hand or hands on said steering ring (3) from the numbers of the segments (13, 15) that are being affected by the hands touching said steering ring (3), according to the following rules:
- If the segments (13, 15) are numbered increasingly in the clockwise direction:
- a) the number of the segment (15) being touched by the thumb of the left hand is higher than the lowest number of the segment (13) still being touched by the opposite fingers, when the fingers are touching the sensor (7) arranged on the outside of the steering ring,
- b) the number of the segment (13) being touched by the thumb of the left hand is always lower than the highest number of the segment (15) still being touched by the opposite fingers, when the fingers are touching the sensor (9) arranged on the inside of the steering ring,
- c) the number of the segment (15) being touched by the thumb of the right hand is always lower than the highest number of the segment (13) still being touched by the opposite fingers, when the fingers are touching the sensor (7) arranged on the outside of the steering ring,
- d) the number of the segment (13) being touched by the thumb of the right hand is always higher than the lowest number of the segment (15) still being touched by the opposite fingers, when the fingers are touching the sensor (9) arranged on the inside of the steering ring.
A computer program, characterized in that said computer program functions according to a method as recited in any of claims 1 to 15.
A computer program, characterized in that said computer program is stored on a storage medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.