As a car company with many excellent patents, Volvo has always been at the forefront of the automotive technology industry, always bringing eye-opening automotive technology inventions to everyone. Currently, the global automobile market is divided into two markets: left-hand drive and right-hand drive. Manufacturing vehicles with two different driving positions will increase the cost and difficulty for car manufacturers. Volvo's patent can perfectly solve this problem.

Recently, overseas media revealed that a group of Volvo cars have applied for a new patent on a steering wheel system. The steering wheel can slide from one side of the car to the other, or to the central control area. This means that the driving position can be switched between the main driver and the passenger driver. As for this patent, Volvo actually submitted a patent application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the first time in early 2019, but did not decide to publish it until late September.

It can be seen from Volvo's patent drawing that the steering wheel can move left and right on the center console, and can be parked in the center control position, and the instrument panel and other related switches will also follow. move. The left and right movement of the steering wheel cannot be realized in all circumstances. It can only be carried out under the premise of wire control technology and automatic or semi-automatic driving.

There will definitely be friends who are curious. The steering wheel has slipped. What to do with the accelerator and brake pedal? It is impossible for one person to control the steering wheel and another person to control the accelerator and brake pedal. Otherwise, how wonderful it would be. tacit agreement. According to relevant descriptions, Volvo may use a more advanced cross-floor pressure-sensitive element sensor instead, installed behind the steering wheel or at the footrest position of the main and passenger seats, to activate the sensor to provide braking and acceleration. And Volvo provides two shifting action plans, one is the same rolling gear as Rolls-Royce, and the other is the traditional shifting method.

The patent for Volvo’s new sliding steering wheel looks very sci-fi and practical, but everyone must know that it is currently limited by traffic regulations and technical safety issues in various countries, so this technology is still in the patent stage and is still in the patent stage. Not realized. Volvo's technology patent is based on self-driving technology. According to today's self-driving technology, it may take years or even decades to mass-produce Volvo's technology patent.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.