Machine element or mechanism – Control lever and linkage systems – Elements
Patent
1996-12-06
1999-05-11
Luong, Vinh T.
Machine element or mechanism
Control lever and linkage systems
Elements
521137, 428 90, B62D1/04
Patent
active
059016159
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a steering wheel for motor vehicles and, more specifically, to a steering wheel for motor vehicles comprising a skin material made of an injection-moldable material which has a low specific gravity and excellent wear resistance, is capable of recycling, and gives excellent feel of touch.
BACKGROUND ART
Soft vinyl chloride resin materials and RIM urethane materials, both of which are injection moldable, have widely been used in recent years as a soft skin material of a steering wheel for motor vehicles. In particular, the RIM urethane materials predominate in the skin material for steering wheels because of their good wear resistance and imparting soft touch.
However, the RIM urethane materials have such problems that a cycle for molding is long, it takes a long time for a post-treatment processing, and have problems in view of recycling the scrap molded articles thereof such that RIM urethane materials cannot be melt again because they are thermoset resins.
Furthermore, the soft vinyl chloride resin materials have problems of a high specific gravity and generation of chlorine gases when heated for recycling the scrap molded articles thereof.
Therefore, a soft, recyclable injection molding material having a low specific gravity has been desired as a skin material of a steering wheel for motor vehicles. For the materials as described above, thermoplastic olefin elastomers are suitable.
However, conventional thermoplastic olefin elastomer materials have not been used as the skin material of the steering wheel for the motor vehicles because they are low in wear resistance that is an essential requirement for the skin material of the steering wheel for the motor vehicles.
With this respect, the present inventors have earnestly studied to obtain an injection-moldable soft thermoplastic olefin elastomer material having a low specific gravity and good wear resistance, which is capable of recycling and gives good feel of touch, and have found that a thermoplastic elastomer composition containing a polyethylene resin and a styrene block copolymer at a particular proportion has the above mentioned properties or effects. The present invention was thus completed.
The present invention was made to solve the problems associated with the conventional arts as described above, and an object thereof is to develop an injection-moldable soft thermoplastic olefin elastomer composition having a low specific gravity and excellent wear resistance, which is capable of recyling and gives good feel of touch, and to provide a steering wheel for motor vehicles of which skin material is made of that composition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A steering wheel according to the present invention comprises a skin material comprising:
(I) 10-50 parts by weight of a polyethylene resin (A); and
(II) 90-50 parts by weight of a block copolymer (B) comprising a polymer block (a) of styrene or a derivative thereof and an isoprene polymer block or an isoprene-butadiene copolymer block (b), said polymer or copolymer block containing 40% or higher of isoprene units bonded at 3,4- position relative to the total isoprene units and 97% or more of double bonds having been hydrogenated,
wherein the total amount of the components (A) and (B) is 100 parts by weight.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a test piece subjected to Ford abrasion test in examples, etc.;
FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view of a steel jig used for the Ford abrasion test, and FIG. 2 (b) is a explanational view illustrating a test method of the Ford abrasion test; and
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a steering wheel for motor vehicles molded in examples, etc.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-section of the steering wheel taken through line a--a of FIG. 3.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a steering wheel for motor vehicles according to the present invention is described in detail.
The steering wheel for the motor vehicles according to the present invention is generally composed of a st
REFERENCES:
patent: 4816313 (1989-03-01), Hosokawa et al.
patent: 4994502 (1991-02-01), Markovs et al.
patent: 5248542 (1993-09-01), Sawada et al.
patent: 5550190 (1996-08-01), Hasegawa et al.
Imazu Shinichi
Itoh Yuichi
Jyougan Kimio
Koizumi Junji
Koyama Tooru
Luong Vinh T.
Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Toyoda Gosei Co,., Ltd.
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