US 2016/0101805 A1Published application

Steering wheel heater device

AssigneePanasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

InventorsTSUYOSHI NISHIO, HIROSHI NAITOU, BAKU SAKAGUCHI, SHINJI FUJIKAWA, YUTA OKAZAKI

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A steering wheel heater device including: a steering wheel heater configured of an electrical resistor which produces heat by electrical energy; an inductor; at least one switch; and a sensor circuit, wherein the inductor is connected in series to a first terminal of the steering wheel heater, the at least one switch turns on and off the supply of power to the steering wheel heater, the sensor circuit is electrically connected to the first terminal and determines whether a detected subject is in contact with a steering wheel based on a magnitude of capacitance of the steering wheel heater, and the at least one switch is at least one of a switch connected in series to the first terminal of the steering wheel heater via the inductor and a switch connected in series to a second terminal of the steering wheel heater.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A steering wheel heater device comprising:

a steering wheel heater configured of an electrical resistor which produces heat by electrical energy, the steering wheel heater having a first terminal and a second terminal and being included in a steering wheel;
a first inductor connected in series to the first terminal of the steering wheel heater;
at least one switch for turning on and off supply of power to the steering wheel heater;
and
a sensor circuit electrically connected to the first terminal, for determining whether a detected subject is in contact with the steering wheel, based on a magnitude of capacitance of the steering wheel heater, wherein
the at least one switch is at least one of a first switch connected in series via the first inductor to the first terminal of the steering wheel heater and a second switch connected in series to the second terminal of the steering wheel heater.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/890,148Filed 4 Dec 2014
Priority: JP 2013-25740312 Dec 2013
Published: 14 Apr 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

B62D 1/065
Rims, e.g. with heating means; Rim covers: steering wheels with heating and ventilating means
B60L 1/02
Supplying electric power to auxiliary equipment of vehicles: to electric heating circuits
H05B 1/0236
Industrial applications: for vehicles
H05B 3/34
Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional [2D] plane, e.g. plate-heater: flexible, e.g. heating nets or webs