STEERING WHEEL WITH HAND PRESSURE SENSING

• US 20110246028A1
• Filed: 04/01/2011
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joyson Safety Systems Acquisition, LLC (Ningbo Junsheng Investment Group Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: TK Holdings Incorporated (Ningbo Junsheng Investment Group Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: LISSEMAN, Jason, BOSCH, Jerome, ANDREWS, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,983,732 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/066 actuating a signalling device B60K28/063 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/046 Adaptations on rotatable parts of the steering wheel for accommodation of switches
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/065 Steering wheels with heating and ventilating means heating and ventilation of steering wheel when connected to vehicle HVAC B60H1/00292

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle safety system includes a steering wheel, a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors located in the steering wheel, and a control unit. The pressure sensitive sensors can be located in different regions of the steering wheel. The pressure sensitive sensors can determine if a driver'"'"'s hand is pressing upon a respective region of the steering wheel associated with one or more of the plurality of pressure sensitive sensors. The control unit can be configured or programmed to determine if at least one of the driver'"'"'s hands is pressing upon a region of the steering wheel for a predetermined amount of time.

Claims

1. A vehicle safety system, comprising:

a steering wheel,

a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors located in the steering wheel,

wherein the pressure sensitive sensors are located in different regions of the steering wheel, such that the pressure sensitive sensors can determine if a driver'"'"'s hand is pressing upon a respective region of the steering wheel associated with one or more of the plurality of pressure sensitive sensors, and

a control unit configured to determine if at least one of the driver'"'"'s hands is pressing upon a region of the steering wheel for a predetermined amount of time.

2. The vehicle safety system of claim 1, wherein the pressure sensitive sensors are located in a rim of the steering wheel.

3. The vehicle safety system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to determine if both of the driver'"'"'s hands are pressing upon regions of the steering wheel.

4. The vehicle safety system of claim 3, wherein the control unit is configured to determine if the driver'"'"'s hands are pressing upon different regions of the steering wheel associated with different pressure sensitive sensors.

5. The vehicle safety system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to provide a warning to the driver if the control unit determines that the at least one of the driver'"'"'s hands is not pressing upon a region of the steering wheel for the predetermined amount of time.

6. The vehicle safety system of claim 1, wherein if the control unit determines that the at least one of the driver'"'"'s hands is not pressing upon a region of the steering wheel for the predetermined amount of time, the control unit is configured to determine if at at least one of the driver'"'"'s hands is pressing upon a region of the steering wheel for a second predetermined amount of time.

7. The vehicle safety system of claim 6, wherein if the control unit determines that the at least one of the driver'"'"'s hands is not pressing upon a region of the steering wheel for the second predetermined amount of time, the control unit is configured to intervene in a driving operation of the vehicle.

8. The vehicle safety system of claim 1, further comprising a heating device configured to heat the different regions of the steering wheel.

9. The vehicle safety system of claim 8, wherein the control unit is configured to activate the heating device to heat only a respective region which corresponds to a pressure sensitive sensor detecting that a driver'"'"'s hand is pressing upon the same respective region.

10. A vehicle steering wheel, comprising:

a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors located in the steering wheel,

wherein the pressure sensitive sensors are located in different regions of the steering wheel, such that the pressure sensitive sensors can determine if a driver'"'"'s hand is pressing upon a respective region of the steering wheel associated with one or more of the plurality of pressure sensitive sensors.