US 6,664,517 B2Granted

Steering-heater device for vehicle

AssigneeYazaki Corporation

InventorHideharu Nagatomo

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Abstract

A steering-heater device 1 capable of temperature control without causing an excess current to flow into a steering wheel Sw is provided. The steering-heater device 1 includes a heater 2 disposed in the steering wheel, a calorific switching element 4 disposed in a steering column Sc to carry out switching of a drive current for driving the heater 2 and also generate heat, a thermo-sensitive element 5 for sensing the temperature of the element 4 to change its own characteristics, a control part 8 that outputs a control signal and a drive part 9 that outputs a drive signal for driving the element 4 on the ground of the control signal. Based on voltages between both ends of the element 5, the control part 8 detects an initial temperature of the steering wheel, further calculates a consumption power required to rise the temperature of the steering wheel up to a set temperature and generate the control signal during a heating period determined on the ground of the consumption power.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A steering-heater device for vehicle, comprising:

a heater disposed in a steering wheel of vehicle;
a calorific switching element connected to the heater electrically and arranged in a steering column to switch the flowing of a drive current for driving the heater, the calorific switching element generating heat by the drive current;
a thermo-sensitive element arranged adjacent to the calorific switching element to sense a temperature of the calorific switching element thereby to change characteristics of the thermo-sensitive element;
a control unit connected to the thermo-sensitive element to detect an initial temperature of the steering wheel on a basis of a change in the characteristics of the thermo-sensitive element, the control unit further calculating a consumption power necessary to rise a temperature of the steering wheel from the initial temperature to a predetermined temperature and also outputting a control signal for a heating period determined on a basis of the consumption power;
and
a drive unit connected to the control unit to output a drive signal to drive the calorific switching element on a basis of the control signal outputted from the control unit.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.