JPH03279075A - Steering wheel covering method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the accurate setting of the action load of a switch and facilitate covering work by adhering the switch surrounding part of the outer peripheral surface of an inner ring to covering material, and then sewing up the tip parts of the covering material mutually in the state of the covering material being provided with tension so as to be wound around the inner ring. CONSTITUTION:A filler body 14 is fitted into the accommodating groove 16 of a jig 15, and adhesive is applied to the upper face of the filler body 14. The outer peripheral surface of the jig 15 is covered with sheet like covering material 6, and its end parts 6a are pulled so as to be provided with tension. When the adhesive is hardened, the covering material 6 is adhered, in the state of its surface wrinkles being disappeared, to the filler body 14. On the other hand, a member such as a horn switch 8 is previously disposed in the accommodating groove 7 of an inner ring 5, and adhesive is applied along both side parts of the accommodating groove 7. The outer peripheral surface of the inner ring is covered with the covering material 6, and the filler body 14 adhered to the covering material 6 is fitted into the accommodating groove 7 of the inner ring 5. In this state, pressure is applied by a pressure tool 17. The end parts 6a of the covering material 6 are further pulled and sewed up mutually in the state of being provided with tension.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for repeatedly wrapping a steering wheel, and more specifically, in a leather-covered steering wheel in which a switch is provided in the ring portion, a leather covering material is wrapped around the inner ring of the steering wheel. This relates to an iterative method.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a steering wheel having a switch provided in a ring portion is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-86273. This steering wheel is provided with a switch in a ring portion, and when the ring portion is gripped with a predetermined grip force, the switch becomes conductive and activates a vehicle horn or the like.

However, the above-mentioned steering wheel is not aesthetically pleasing because the switches are exposed, and it has been considered to wrap a covering material such as straw material around the steering wheel like a normal steering wheel.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, if the above-mentioned steering wheel is simply repeated, the following problems are expected to occur.

First, in the repeated work of boat fishing, the ring part of the steering wheel is covered with a covering material, and in order to prevent wrinkles from forming on the covering material, the end of the covering material is pulled to apply tension. The ends are sewn together. However, since the above-mentioned steering wheel is equipped with a switch, there is a possibility that the switch may be pressed by the tensioned covering material and become conductive. Therefore, when sewing, it is necessary to adjust the tension while checking with a tester etc. that the switch is not conductive.

This becomes a very complicated task.

Further, as described above, although it is possible to prevent the switch from becoming conductive by adjusting the tension of the covering material, it is not possible to completely eliminate the tension applied to the switch. Therefore, the switch is slightly pressed by the tension of the covering material, and the operating load of the switch (pressing force required for conduction) becomes lighter than the originally set operating load. In addition, if this steering wheel is mass-produced, it is not possible to precisely match the tension applied to the covering material of each wheel, so the operating load of each switch will also differ. Therefore, a problem arises in that it is difficult to set the operating load of the switch to a required value.

An object of the present invention is to provide a steering wheel that allows the operating load of the switch to be accurately set to a required value, and that allows for easy sewing work without the need to adjust the tension when sewing sewing material. The purpose of this invention is to provide a method for repeating the process.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention supports an annular inner ring on the outer periphery of a boss part via spokes, and also wraps a repeating material around the inner ring to form a ring part, and conducts electrically in accordance with the pressing force applied to the ring part. In the steering wheel in which the inner ring is provided with a switch that changes the state, the inner ring is provided with a accommodating portion for accommodating the switch, and the outer circumferential surface of the inner ring is covered with the covering material, and a first step of adhering the peripheral part of the switch to the covering material, and a second step of sewing the ends of the open covering material together while applying tension to the repeating material and wrapping the covering material around the inner ring. The gist of this article is a method of reversing a steering wheel.

[Effect]

In the first step, the outer circumferential surface of the inner ring on which the switch is previously installed is covered with the covering material, and the peripheral part of the switch on the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring is bonded to the covering material, and in the second step, tension is applied to the covering material. In this state, the ends of the open covering material are sewn together to wrap the repeating material around the inner ring.

When tension is applied to the repeating material in the second step described above,
Because the periphery of the switch is glued, there is no tension in the wrapper over the switch. Therefore, the tension applied to the shroud is prevented from being applied to the switch, and the switch is covered by the shroud in a tension-free state. Further, even if a large tension is applied to the reversing material, that tension does not reach the switch, so there is no need to adjust the tension applied to the reversing material to an optimum value.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a steering wheel with a built-in horn switch will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure 2 is a front view of the steering wheel, Figure 1 is a front view of the steering wheel.
It is a sectional view taken along the line XX in the figure. As shown in these figures,
The steering wheel of this embodiment has three spokes, and an annular ring part 3 is supported on the outer periphery of a boss part 1 via spokes 2.

The ring portion 3 consists of an inner ring 5 made of urethane having a core metal 4 at its center, and a covering material 6 covering the surface of the inner ring 5. As the covering material 6, natural leather, artificial leather, cloth, resin sheet, rubber sheet, etc. are used. Further, this repeating material 6 is sewn over the entire inner circumference of the ring portion 3.

On both the left and right sides of the ring portion 3, the inner ring 5 is formed with accommodation grooves 7 as accommodation portions that open outward, and within the accommodation grooves 7 are provided a large number of horn switches 8 (only one is shown in FIG. 1). ) are arranged in a row in the circumferential direction of the ring portion 3. Each horn switch 8 is comprised of upper and lower contact plates 9 and 10, and an insulating spacer 11 that maintains both contact plates 9 and 10 at a predetermined distance in an insulated state. Further, a resin film 13 is disposed above the upper contact plate 9 via a pressing piece 12, and a filler 14 is disposed between the resin film 13 and the covering material 6.

Therefore, when a part of the ring part 3 where each horn switch 8 is installed is gripped with a predetermined grip force or more, the horn switch 8 at the gripped part is pressed through the filler 14, the resin film 13, and the pressing piece 12. Pressure acts. As a result, the upper contact plate 9 of the horn switch 8 is bent and the lower contact plate 10 is bent.
When it comes into contact with the horn, the horn is activated.

Next, a description will be given of the repeated work of wrapping the covering material 6 around the inner ring 5 in the above-mentioned steering wheel.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, a jig 15 having the same shape as the inner ring 5 is prepared, and a housing groove 16 formed in the jig 15
The filling body 14 is fitted into the hole. Since the housing groove 16 of the jig 15 is shallower than the housing groove 7 of the inner ring 5, the upper surface of the filling body 14 is flush with the outer circumference of the jig 15. Furthermore, adhesive is applied to the upper surface of the filling body 14,
A sheet-like covering material 6 is placed over the outer peripheral surface of the jig 15, and tension is applied by pulling the end portion 6a of the covering material 6 as shown by the arrow. When the adhesive hardens in this state, the covering material 6 is bonded to the filler 14 under tension, that is, with the surface wrinkles removed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, members such as the horn switch 8 are placed in advance in the accommodation groove 7 of the inner ring 5, and both sides of the accommodation groove 7 (as shown in FIG. 4) are placed in advance. Apply the adhesive in a strip along the edges (indicated by S). Next, the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 5 is covered with the above-described covering material 6, and the filler 14 adhered to the covering material 6 is fitted into the housing groove 7 of the inner ring 5. Then, press the pressurizing tool 1
7 to apply pressure to the adhesive application location S.

At this time, unlike the case described above, no tension is applied to the repeating material 6. When the adhesive hardens in this state, the covering material 6 is adhered to the inner ring 5, and the filling body 14 is placed in the receiving groove 7.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the ends 6a of the covering material 6 are sewn together while tension is applied to the ends 6a. Since the sewing material 6 is sewn with tension applied to it in this manner, the generation of wrinkles on the surface is prevented. In this way, the repeated work is completed, and the steering wheel is in the state shown in FIG.

When tension is applied to the repeating material 6 as described above, the accommodation groove 7
Since both sides of the repeating material 6 are glued to the repeating material 6,
No tension is generated at the location above the housing groove 7. Therefore, the tension applied to the covering material 6 is prevented from being applied to the horn switch 8 in the housing groove 7 via the filling body 14. As a result, the horn switch 8 is housed in the housing groove 7 without any tension being applied thereto. Further, even if a large tension is applied to the reversing material 6, that tension is not applied to the horn switch 8, so there is no need to adjust the tension applied to the reversing material 6 to an optimum value.

In this way, in the steering wheel reversing method of this embodiment, both sides of the housing groove 7 in which the horn switch 8 is housed are adhered to the reversing material 6 in advance, and then tension is applied to the reversing material 6. Then, the ends 6a of the repeating material 6 were sewn together.

Therefore, no tension is generated in the portion of the covering material 6 above the housing groove 7, and the tension applied to the covering material 6 is prevented from being applied to the horn switch 8. As a result, the operating load of the horn switch 8 is prevented from changing due to the tension of the covering material 6, and the operating load can be maintained at the originally set operating load. In addition, in this embodiment, the ring portion 3 is provided with a large number of horn switches 8, but since all the horn switches 8 are energized with the original set operating load,
No matter which part of the ring part 3 is gripped, the horn can always be operated with the same gripping force.

In addition, when mass-producing this steering wheel, even if there is variation in the tension applied to the covering material 6 in each individual steering wheel, the influence of this variation can be absorbed by the horn switch 8.
is not accepted. Therefore, homogenization of the product can be achieved by equalizing the operating loads of all steering wheels.

Furthermore, since the operating load of the horn switch 8 is maintained at the original set operating load regardless of the tension applied to the repeating material 6, the tension applied to the repeating material 6 can be adjusted to the optimum value during sewing. There is no need to repeat the process, making it very easy to repeat the process.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, only the filler 14 is first adhered to the repeating material 6 using the jig 15, and then the repeating material 6 is bonded to the inside of the covering material 6. Although it is wound around the ring 5, the repeated work may be performed without using the jig 15. That is, the filling body 14 is fitted into the accommodation groove 7 of the inner ring 5 in advance, and the filling body 14 is inserted into the accommodation groove 7 of the inner ring 5.
The inner ring 5 is covered with the repeating material 6 with adhesive applied to both sides of the inner ring 5, and the areas where the adhesive is applied are pressed and bonded using a press, and then tension is applied to the repeating material 6 to perform sewing. Even when the reversing work is performed repeatedly in this manner, the tension of the reversing material 6 can be prevented from being applied to the horn switch 8 by the adhesive portion.

Further, in the above embodiment, a large number of horn switches 8 are installed in the steering wheel, but the number of switches 8 may be one, or another type of switch, for example, a switch for a car radio, can be installed inside the steering wheel. Good too.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the steering wheel covering method of the present invention, it is possible to accurately set the operating load of the switch to a required value, and there is no need to adjust the tension when sewing the repeating material. It exhibits an excellent effect in that repeated work can be easily performed without any problems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along the line X--X in FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a front view of the steering wheel of the embodiment, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are diagrams for explaining the support procedure. 1 is a boss portion, 2 is a spoke, 3 is a ring portion, 5 is an inner ring, 6 is a repeating material, 6a is an end portion, 7 is a housing groove as a housing portion, 8 is a horn switch, and both side portions are peripheral portions.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An annular inner ring (5) is supported on the outer periphery of the boss portion (1) via spokes (2), and a covering material (6) is wrapped around the inner ring (5). In the steering wheel in which the inner ring (5) is provided with a switch (8) that forms a ring part (3) and changes the conduction state according to a pressing force applied to the ring part (3), The ring (5) is provided with a accommodating part (7) for accommodating the switch (8), and the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring (5) is covered with the covering material (6), and the inner ring (5) is covered with the covering material (6).
A first step of bonding the peripheral portion (S) of the switch (8) on the outer peripheral surface of the switch (8) to the covering material (6);
A method for covering a steering wheel comprising a second step of sewing the ends (6a) of the inner ring (5) together and wrapping the covering material (6) around the inner ring (5).