US 9,352,768 B2Granted

Steering wheel

AssigneeAutoliv Development AB

InventorsHugues Doursoux, Olivier Bertrand, Patrick Guerin, Emmanuelle Baloge, Laurent Groleau

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Abstract

A steering wheel has a gripping formation including an armature substantially encapsulated by a cover of foamed material and a flexible outer skin provided over and around the cover. The flexible skin may be formed of leather or artificial leather. The steering wheel may include a plastic insert engaged within a fixing groove or recess formed in the cover. At least one edge of the outer skin may be positioned within the fixing groove or recess and fixed to the insert by ultrasonic welding, for example. In a preferred arrangement, two opposed edges of the outer skin may be both received within the fixing groove or recess and fixed to the insert therein by ultrasonic welding.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A steering wheel comprising:

a gripping formation having an armature;
a cover of foamed material substantially encapsulating the armature;
an outer skin over and around the cover;
and
a plastic insert having a first side wall and a second side wall, the first and second sidewalls being spaced apart, the plastic insert engaged within a fixing groove or recess formed in the cover, at least one edge of the outer skin positioned within the fixing groove or recess and fixed to the insert therein by an ultrasonic weld,
wherein the plastic insert includes a first plurality of projections vertically elongated and inwardly extending from the first side wall and a second plurality of projections vertically elongated and inwardly extending from the second side wall, the first and second pluralities of projections gripping each edge of the at least one edge of the outer skin, the projections providing localized regions of plastic material for the ultrasonic weld, each projection of the first plurality of projections is circumferentially spaced from respective adjacent projections within the first plurality of projections.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.