Steering wheel
First Claim
1. A steering wheel comprising:
- a steering shaft;
a boss plate secured to the tip portion of said steering shaft;
a ring portion mounted to said boss plate;
light emitting means and light receiving means disposed oppositely to each other with said boss plate therebetween so as to perform light communication, said light emitting means having a plurality of light emitting units while said light receiving means having a plurality of light receiving units corresponding to said light emitting units of said light emitting means so as to transmit and receive light relative to each other, a pair of said light emitting units and said light receiving units transmitting and receiving the light relative to each other and constituting a communication unit; and
a plurality of through holes formed on said boss plate in correspondence to said light emitting means and said light receiving means, a number of said through holes being more than a number of said communication units for light communication, said through holes permitting to pass therethrough light signals for the light communication of all said units.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to steering wheels of automobiles provided with communication systems employing light transmitters, comprising a steering shaft, a boss plate fixed on the tip of the steering shaft, a ring portion mounted to said boss plate, light emitters and light receivers provided with said boss plate therebetween to perform light communication, the light emitters comprising a plurality of emitting units while the light receivers comprise a plurality of receiving units corresponding to the emitting units of the emitters so as to transmit and receive signals with each other, thereby constituting a communication unit with a pair of emitting and receiving units, and a plurality of through holes formed on the boss plate in correspondence to the light emitting and light receiving units, which are more than the communication units and enable all the light signals of all the units for light communication to pass therethrough.
12 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A steering wheel comprising:
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a steering shaft; a boss plate secured to the tip portion of said steering shaft; a ring portion mounted to said boss plate; light emitting means and light receiving means disposed oppositely to each other with said boss plate therebetween so as to perform light communication, said light emitting means having a plurality of light emitting units while said light receiving means having a plurality of light receiving units corresponding to said light emitting units of said light emitting means so as to transmit and receive light relative to each other, a pair of said light emitting units and said light receiving units transmitting and receiving the light relative to each other and constituting a communication unit; and a plurality of through holes formed on said boss plate in correspondence to said light emitting means and said light receiving means, a number of said through holes being more than a number of said communication units for light communication, said through holes permitting to pass therethrough light signals for the light communication of all said units. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A steering wheel comprising:
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a steering shaft; a boss plate fixed on a tip portion of said steering shaft; a ring portion mounted to said boss plate; a pair of base plates provided oppositely to each other with said boss plate therebetween; a light emitting means and a light receiving means each provided on each of said base plates for light communication, said light emitting means comprising a plurality of emitting units, said light receiving means comprising a plurality of receiving units corresponding to said emitting units of said emitting means so as to transmit and receive light signals relative to each other, a pair of said emitting unit and said receiving unit constituting a communication unit; a first reflector disposed between said first base plate and said boss plate; a second reflector disposed between said second base plate and said boss plate; a plurality of through holes formed on said boss plate in correspondence to said light emitting means and said light receiving means, a number of said through holes being more than that of the communication units for the light communication, and said through holes permitting all the light signals of all said units for the light communication to pass therethrough; a pair of slip rings made of electrically conductive metal and disposed on either one of an outer circumferential portion of said first reflector and said second reflector and both said base plates, and a power relay member fixed to said boss plate and sliding on said slip rings to relay power. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification