A portable workstation assembly for supporting a laptop computer in a vehicle includes a member is extended through a steering wheel in a vehicle having the member abutting a steering column in the vehicle. The member rests on an outer ring of the steering wheel when the member is extended through the steering wheel. A panel is coupled to the member such that the panel is oriented on a plane that is angled downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane when the member is extended through the steering wheel. In this way the panel is positioned to support a laptop computer or the like at an ergonomically efficient position for a driver of the vehicle.

An occupant monitoring apparatus for measuring the spatial position of an occupant predetermined site with a camera includes a camera capturing an image of a vehicle occupant, an image processor processing the captured image, and a position calculator calculating the spatial position of the occupant predetermined site using the processed image. The camera is installed on a steering wheel of the vehicle away from a rotational shaft to be rotatable together with the steering wheel. The image processor rotates two images captured at two positions by the camera rotated together with the steering wheel to generate rotated images. The position calculator calculates the spatial position of the occupant predetermined site using a linear distance between the two positions, a parallax obtained from the rotated images, and a focal length of the camera.

A vehicle-mounted device includes a switch unit installed in a traveling object and configured to be operated by an occupant; a speaker unit installed on a far side of the switch unit from the occupant; an air chamber installed on a far side of the speaker unit from the occupant; and a substrate provided between the switch unit and the speaker unit and including at least one opening.

A camera assembly adapted for mounting to an interior of a motor vehicle on an upper surface of the steering column assembly. The camera assembly has mounting features interacting with a mounting structure that cause the camera assembly to separate from the mounting structure upon the occurrence of a collision with an object or through inertial forces acting on the camera assembly. The separation in such conditions is provided in a controlled manner through the use of cam or ramp surfaces provided in the camera assembly or mounting structure. A cable or tether may be attached to the camera assembly and mounted to the vehicle to further control movement of the camera assembly after separation.

A portable workstation assembly for supporting a laptop computer in a vehicle includes a member is extended through a steering wheel in a vehicle having the member abutting a steering column in the vehicle. The member rests on an outer ring of the steering wheel when the member is extended through the steering wheel. A panel is coupled to the member such that the panel is oriented on a plane that is angled downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane when the member is extended through the steering wheel. In this way the panel is positioned to support a laptop computer or the like at an ergonomically efficient position for a driver of the vehicle.

A steering wheel storage device. The steering wheel storage device has a base. The base attaches to the steering wheel column of an automobile via a fastener. A housing is attached to the base via a fastener and is designed to store vehicle documents. The housing has an interior cavity that is accessed through an opening. At least one pocket is integrated in the front face of the housing.

A shifter module is provided for a vehicle. The shifter module includes: a substrate adapted for mounting to the vehicle; a shifter knob provided on top of the substrate for enabling a driver to select a gear of the transmission; and a pop-up storage compartment for storing a portable electronic device. The pop-up storage compartment includes: a storage drawer movable between a stowed position and an accessible position within an aperture in the substrate, the storage drawer including a forward support adapted to receive a rear surface of the portable electronic device, the forward support supports the portable electronic device so that a front surface of the portable device is visible to the driver when the storage drawer is in the accessible position; and a rail system extending below the aperture of the substrate for receiving and guiding the storage drawer between the stowed position and the accessible position.

A holder for an electronic device is mounted on a golf cart steering wheel. The holder preferably is rotatable relative to the golf cart steering wheel. The holder may include a weatherproof cover to protect the electronic device from the elements. The holder may also include a lock to releaseably secure the electronic device within the holder.

A device for mounting a hand-held device is disclosed. The device providing hands free operation of the hand-held device during a vehicle operation is also disclosed.

The present invention provides a safety control system for a vehicle with controls located on the vehicle steering wheel. The controls maybe arranged in a cluster on one or both sides of the upper half of the steering wheel. The controls can be located in areas of the steering wheel including the spokes, the rim or a special flange extended from the rim or the spoke of the steering wheel and are easily recognizable and accessible by the driver while the driver is looking ahead from a normal driving position with the driver's eyes focused on the road and maintaining the driver's hands on the steering wheel. The controls can be further enhanced by varied coloring, shape, size, and texture to make them easily identifiable. The controls can be used to access and control vehicle systems or portable telematics devices in multi modal process in conjunction with thumb gesture interpretation or speech recognition. A further enhancement to the system is the introduction of a universal portable devices docking station to eliminate falling devices and the consequences of accident.