Heatable steering wheel, and rim and method thereof

Abstract

A steering wheel includes a rim having a structural core, an outer casing, and a heating device for heating the outer casing. The core includes a frame and an insulating layer formed around the frame. The heating device includes a layer of electrically conductive plastic surrounding the core, and a pair of electrodes extending along the length of the conductive layer. The electrodes extend substantially along the entire peripheral length of the conductive layer, and the conductive layer encapsulates the insulating layer and the electrodes. The conductive layer heats the outer casing, which can be a decorative layer comprised of one or more of wood, leather, film, and lacquer, when current flows through the electrodes. The electrodes are positioned along the conductive layer to allow current to uniformly pass along the periphery of the steering wheel rim into the conductive layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.