Steering wheel with hand pressure sensing

摘要

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.

主权项

1. A vehicle safety system, comprising:
a steering wheel, a plurality of pressure sensitive sensors located within an outer surface of a rim of the steering wheel, wherein the pressure sensitive sensors are located in different regions of the steering wheel, the pressure sensitive sensors configured to detect a pressure applied to one or more of the plurality of pressure sensitive sensors indicative of a presence of a driver's hand upon a respective region of the steering wheel, and a control unit configured to:
initiate a first warning system in response to determining that at least one of the driver's hands has not pressed upon a region of the steering wheel for a first predetermined amount of time,initiate a second warning system in response to determining that at least one of the driver's hands has not pressed upon a region of the steering wheel for a second predetermined amount of time, anddetermine a rate of change of pressure applied to one or more of the plurality of pressure sensitive sensors wherein the initiating of at least one of the first or second warning systems is based on the rate of change of pressure applied to one or more of the plurality of pressure sensitive sensors.