Steering wheel with decorative element

#This invention relates to a steering wheel.

#To impart steering wheels a high-quality appearance, it is known to provide the steering wheel rim with decorative elements having special surfaces, e.g. wood, aluminum or carbon fiber. Such decorative elements are often combined with a leather coating of the steering wheel rim.

#A steering wheel with such decorative elements is described for instance in DE 298 03 133 U1. Seen in cross-section, the decorative element used there extends across an angle of about 90° in peripheral direction of the steering wheel rim. Via a latching connection it is connected with a component anchored in the sheathing of the steering wheel skeleton. This construction requires a complex injection coating tool for making the sheathing.

#FIG. 1 shows a steering wheel according to the invention; and

#FIG. 2 shows a section along line I-I or line II-II in FIG. 1.

#FIG. 1 shows a steering wheel 10 according to the invention, comprising a hub 12, a steering wheel rim 14 as well as spokes 16 which connect the steering wheel rim 14 with the hub 12. On the steering wheel rim 14 and/or on the spoke 16 decorative elements 18 are arranged. Number and arrangement of the decorative elements 18 are chosen merely by way of example, and the decorative elements can be placed at any point of steering wheel rim and spoke and in any number.

#FIG. 2 shows a section through the steering wheel rim along line I-I or through a spoke along line II-II in FIG. 1 and illustrates the construction of the steering wheel. In their interior, the steering wheel rim 14 and the spoke 16 include a skeleton 20, which imparts the steering wheel the fundamental stability. The skeleton 20 is surrounded by a sheathing 22, which can for instance consist of a foamed material such as PUR and be applied onto the skeleton by a known foaming method.

#However, the sheathing designated with 22 can also consist of an injection-molded thermoplastic material or of an expandable PE or PP.