Vehicle steering wheel safety device

Claim 1

A safety device for a vehicle steering wheel having a hub, a rim, and spokes interconnecting the hub and the rim, for protecting a vehicle operator from injury upon impact of the operator's head with the steering wheel, comprising an impact energy dissipating member arranged over said spokes, said member including a first thin wall crushable hollow shell having an impact surface and side walls mounted to a supporting structure, said first shell being substantially larger in one direction parallel to said impact surface than in the direction perpendicular to said impact surface, and only one second thin wall crushable hollow shell mounted to said supporting structure, said shell being mounted to the central portion of said supporting structure in said parallel direction and in contact with the center of said impact surface within said first shell and spaced from said side walls, said shells having substantially equal thickness in said perpendicular direction and said second shell being substantially smaller than said first shell in said parallel direction and supporting said central portion of said impact surface to render the impact characteristic of said surface substantially uniform over said surface.