Automobile steering wheel moulded using non-metallic cores - to reduce wt. inertia and hazard compared with metal cored wheels

摘要

A steering wheel is constructed so that neither the rim nor perhaps the spokes involve a continuous metal reinforcement, but comprises structurally a tubular profile or epoxy or polyester resin having the core filled with a less dense material such as expanded polyethylene. Prefabricated segments and rods of the expanded material, pref. enveloped in one or more layers of a reinforcing fabric made from glass fibres, are placed as inserts in a mould into which the resin can be injected to form a tubular casing. Pref. the wheel boss is assembled by bolts or rivets linking clamping plates made of ductile metal. Used esp. for mfg. automobile steering wheels with a mass and a moment of (polar) inertia less by at least 50% and 60% respectively than that of a conventional wheel with continuous metal components for the cere of the wheel rim and its spokes. Elimination of internal metal components increases contact safety in the event of a crash.