US 12,030,547 B2
Steering wheel assembly
Matthias Helmstetter, Aschaffenburg (DE); Jeff Harvey, Sterling Heights, MI (US); Christopher Baucher, Washington, MI (US); Marco Tumminello, Niedernberg (DE); Christopher Staab, Haibach (DE); and Daekyo Jang, Gyeonggi-do (KR)
Assigned to ZF OVERSEAS, INC., Valley View, OH (US); ZF PASSIVE SAFETY SYSTEMS US INC., Washington, MI (US); and ZF AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY GERMANY GMBH, Aschaffenburg (DE)
Filed by ZF Passive Safety Systems US Inc., Washington, MI (US); ZF Automotive Germany GmbH, Aschaffenburg (DE); and ZF Overseas, Inc., Valley View, OH (US)
Filed on Aug. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/460,731.
Application 17/460,731 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/US2021/027582, filed on Apr. 16, 2021.
Application PCT/US2021/027582 is a continuation of application No. 16/851,401, filed on Apr. 17, 2020, granted, now 11,453,429.
Prior Publication US 2021/0387660 A1, Dec. 16, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B62D 1/04 (2006.01); B60R 21/203 (2006.01); B62D 1/06 (2006.01); B62D 1/10 (2006.01); B62D 5/04 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 1/04 (2013.01) [B62D 1/06 (2013.01); B60R 21/203 (2013.01); B62D 1/10 (2013.01); B62D 5/0445 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A steering wheel assembly for a vehicle, comprising:
a support member connectable to a vehicle steering column;
a steering wheel having first and second rim portions, at least one of the first and second rim portions being pivotable about a pivot axis between a steering position and a folded position;
at least one linear actuator connected to the support member, the at least one linear actuator has a leadscrew and a leadscrew nut, the leadscrew being rotatable relative to the support member, the leadscrew nut being connected and linearly movable relative to the leadscrew, the leadscrew rotating relative to the leadscrew nut upon actuation of the at least one linear actuator, rotation of the leadscrew causing the leadscrew nut to linearly move on the leadscrew relative to the leadscrew;
a link having a first end connected to the leadscrew nut; and
a pivot extension connected to at least one of the first and second rim portions, a first end of the pivot extension being pivotably connected to a second end of the link, a second end of the pivot extension being connected to the support member, linear motion of the leadscrew nut causing the link to pivot the pivot extension relative to the support member, at least one of the first and second rim portions pivoting about the pivot axis relative to the support member as the pivot extension pivots relative to the support member.