Steering wheel light bar
AssigneeTK Holdings Inc.
InventorsJason Carl Lisseman, Valerie Dawn Gardner, Dwayne Van'tZelfde, Erick Paul Staszak, Norbert Hubert Mueller, David William Andrews
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a steering apparatus for a vehicle having a including a light element providing indication and warning light signals to the user of the vehicle. The light element can be associated with a PCB mounted to the steering wheel grip for controlling the operation of the light element. The PCB may be thermally coupled to a heat exchange component such that heat from the light element is transferred from the PCB to the steering wheel grip.
Claims14
A method of illuminating a light element mounted adjacent to a steering grip of a steering apparatus, the method comprising:
- receiving instructions for controlling at least a portion of the operation of a light element, the instructions received by a steering grip processor;
- and
- varying an illumination characteristic of the light element in response to the instructions,
- wherein the steering grip processor is disposed on a printed circuit board, and the printed circuit board is mounted to the steering grip, and
- wherein varying the illumination characteristics of the light element occurs in response to receiving information that the vehicle is on, an autonomous vehicle driving system is off, and a human touch detection sensor associated with the steering grip does not detect human touch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.