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US 4,635,500 AGranted
Epoxy steering wheel
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorsRobert H. Overcashier, Robert D. Farris
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automotive steering wheel wherein fiber reinforcing members are placed around a core member that is placed in a mold cavity to form the rim and spoke portions of a steering wheel the mold cavity is then evacuated to remove air trapped in the reinforcing fibers while injecting a thermosetting resin at a high rate to bond the reinforcing assembly into a solid mass.
Claims1
An automotive steering wheel having a rim and two spokes connecting said rim to a central hub, said steering wheel comprising:
- a flexible tubular member sealed at each end, said flexible tubular member being sealed in a partially deflated condition;
- a woven tube of fiber-reinforcing material, said tube being positioned to surround said flexible tubular member, a continuous length of said flexible member and tube of fiber-reinforcing material being used to form the steering wheel by placing one end of the flexible member in a first position on the rim, passing it up one spoke around the central hub then back down said one spoke around a remainder of the rim to the second spoke, up said second spoke around said hub, back down said second spoke and around a remainder of the rim to the first position to join the other end of said flexible member with said one end of said flexible member;
- and
- a thermosetting resin, said resin combining with said fiber-reinforcing material to bond the reinforcing into a solid mass.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.