ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 15 -- United States Patent no. 12,600,399, issued on April 14, was assigned to Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Tokyo).
"Steering apparatus" was invented by Shotaro Odate (Tokyo).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A steering apparatus includes: a steering wheel including a hub portion, a grip portion, and spoke portions; a steering angle detection unit configured to detect a steering angle of the steering wheel; a sensor unit configured to detect contact or proximity of a human body to the grip portion; and a microprocessor. The microprocessor is configured to perform: setting a grip detection range along the grip portion, and determining whether gripping has been detected in the grip ...