Detachable Steering Wheel (Supra - SAEIndia)

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This detachable steering wheel was designed for a team from College of Engineering (Pune) which participated in SUPRA SAEINDIA '14. (http://saeindia.org/suprasaeindia)

In a formula car, driver lay pretty flat. This is done to reduce aerodynamics as much as possible, and the torque that your upper body suffers in high G turns.
The cockpit is also as narrow as possible, due to which getting in and out is not the simplest thing to do, so the steering wheel is removable to allow additional space to get in and out of the car.

To make matters worse, the door doesn't open, and even if it does, there are roll cage members crowding the rider as well. The steering wheel has to move or the driver wont be able to move in case of an emergency.

Basic idea was to make a mechanism which allows quick attachment and detachment of steering wheel on the steering rod, also assuring zero slippage between the steering wheel assembly and steering rod.

This mechanism uses the spring force to press inside the balls with the help of tapered cylindrical sleeve (slider) onto the steering rod housed inside a hollow cylinder. The hollow cylinder has triangular cross secion at one end, which nullifies any chance of slippage.
The steering wheel can be released by simply pulling the tapered cylindrical sleeve towards the driver by his/her fingers, which eases out the balls thus loosening the steering wheel assembly.