Steering wheel core structure

Claim 1

A steering wheel core stucture for a vehicle having a steering shaft, comprising: a hub core for installation on an end of the steering shaft and shaped to be polygonal in cross section to have a pair of diametrically opposed peripheral faces while being formed with a peripheral cut at an axial end thereof; a circular handle core; a spoke core interconnecting said handle core and said hub core and including a U-shaped central portion engaging said peripheral faces of said hub core to clamp said hub core, a pair of upstanding portions upstanding from the respective axial ends of said central portion axially of the steering shaft, and a pair of radial portions extending between said upstanding portions and said handle core; and a hub bracket installed on said axial end of said hub core, said hub bracket being a single piece and including a base portion attached to said axial end of said hub core and formed with a finger engaged in said peripheral cut of said hub core so as to prevent relative rotation between said hub bracket and said hub core, upstanding means for defining spaces in which said upstanding portions of said spoke core are received, and stopper means for preventing said spoke core from falling off from said hub bracket through movement axially of the steering shaft; said hub bracket being formed from a one-piece metal sheet and said base portion of said hub bracket being generally rectangular and planar, said upstanding means comprising a pair of upstanding portions extending from a common edge of said base portion so as to provide said edge with notched portions through which said upstanding portions of said spoke core projects beyond said base portion, said upstanding portions of said hub bracket being located adjacent the longitudinal ends of said base portion, said stopper means comprising a pair of elongated horn contact portions extending from said upstanding portions of said hub bracket in the same direction and in parallel to said base portion and a pair of elongated hub cover mounting portions provided to the respective longitudinal ends of said base portion in such a manner as to lie in the same plane as said base portion so that said radial portions of said spoke core are held between said horn contact portions and said hub cover mounting portions.