Adjustable steering wheel

Claim 1

A steering wheel arrangement for automotive vehicles, including a steering wheel, a steering column carrying the steering wheel and housing a steering shaft, and means for adjusting the position of the steering wheel in the direction of the steering column and/or with regard to an angle to said column, the adjustment means comprising at least one setting motor (20, 21) for effecting adjustment movements of the steering wheel relative to the steering column, and means (34, 35, 36) for detecting the force acting on the steering wheel (13) in the adjustment direction said force detecting means being adapted to start the setting motor when the force acting on the steering wheel (13) in said adjustment direction has a predetermined value and to hold the setting motor in an active running state until the force acting in said adjustment direction falls beneath said predetermined force value, the setting motor (20, 21) being an electric servomotor, wherein said electric servomotor rotates a nut (32) on a screw-threaded portion of an operating rod (23, 27) which is connected via an elastically deformable element (36) to that part of the steering column tube (4; 10) which is movable relative to the housing of said servomotor; and in that an operating element (34) for operating a switch (35), which is stationary relative to the movable tube part of said steering column, is so connected to the operating rod (23, 27) that the operating element will bring the switch to an activated state upon a given state of deformation of the elastically deformable element (36).