Vehicular safety is a critical parameter of a vehicle, given the number of vehicular (traffic) accidents which happen in India and also worldwide. As per National Crime Records Bureau of India, traffic accidents resulted in injuries to 4,42,996 persons and 1,81,113 deaths during the year 2019 alone. Thus, to mitigate injuries due to accident, several vehicle manufacturers strive to make their vehicles safer for the occupants of the vehicle and recently safety has become a unique selling proposition (USP) for vehicle manufacturers.
In addition, governmental organizations and other global organizations mandates/suggests various safety parameters for vehicle manufacturers to comply with. Inter alia, the steering column of the vehicle comprises a universal joint and it has been observed that in case of impact, the driver's knee collides with sharp edge of shaft below the universal joint, thereby, causing severe and irreversible injury to the knee. It has also been observed that to mitigate such injury to the knee (or legs) the material/part colliding with the knee should be a relatively soft/deformable.
However, a person skilled in the art would appreciate that the shaft of a steering column cannot be made of a soft and deformable material, instead the shaft is made up of machined metallic parts and has sharp edges due to design/ manufacturing process constraints.
Thus, there is an unresolved and unfulfilled need for a mechanism to protect the knee of a driver in cases of impact with the steering column and its components.

Summary
The present invention relates to a steering column of a vehicle. The steering column comprising an upper column, a universal joint, a shaft component, and a protective covering device. The protective covering device is in the form a hollow member preferably cylindrical, where the hollow member encloses the universal joint and accommodates for the free movement or rotation of the upper column and the shaft component.
The protective covering device further comprises a flange arranged at the lower end of the hollow member, wherein the hollow member and/or the flange has a smooth profile. Further, the protective covering device is removably attached to a yoke of the universal joint using fastening means. The fastening means comprises one of a nut bolt mechanism, screws, snaps, and press-fit
Brief description of the drawings:
The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -
FIG. 1A and IB exemplarily illustrates prior art steering column;
FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates protective covering device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates the protective covering device installed on the steering column in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a magnified image of the protective covering device in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention.
Detailed description:

FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a steering column 100 comprising an upper column 101, universal joint 102 and the shaft component 103. Further, a knee 104 of a test dummy is shown where in case of an impact, the knee 104 of the test dummy collides with the metallic machined shaft component 103 below the universal joint 102, which comprises sharp edges. The upper column 101 of the steering column 100 is coupled to the steering wheel (not shown in Fig. 1) and rotational forces applied on the steering wheel are mechanically conveyed through the universal joint 102 to the shaft component 103.
FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a protective covering device 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The protective covering device 200 comprises a hollow member 204, wherein the hollow member 204 encloses the universal joint 102 and wherein the hollow member 204 accommodates for the free movement of the upper column 101 and the shaft component 103. The protective covering device 200 further comprises a flange arranged at the lower end of the hollow member 204, wherein the hollow member 204 and/or the flange provides a smooth surface or has a smooth profile, whereby upon collision with the knee, the impact force is distributed over a larger surface area and thus mitigating risks of severe knee injury. The hollow protective covering device 200 is removably attached to the yoke of the universal joint 102 using a nut bolt mechanism 202, where the nut and bolt mechanism secures the protective covering device 200 with the universal joint 102. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that any other type of fastening mechanism can also be used such as screws, snaps, press-fit, etc. without deviating from the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates the protective covering device 200 installed on the universal joint of the steering column in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a magnified image of the protective covering device 200 in accordance with the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 3 of the present invention.

The protective covering device 200 comprises a substantially cylindrical hollow member 204, wherein the hollow member 204 encloses the universal joint 102 and wherein the hollow member 204 accommodates for the free movement of the upper column 101 and the shaft component 103.
The protective covering device 200 is removably attached to the yoke of the universal joint 102 using a nut bolt mechanism 202, where the nut and bolt mechanism secures the protective covering device 200. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that any other type of fastening mechanism can also be used such as screws, snaps, press-fit, etc. without deviating from the scope of the present invention.
The protective covering device 200 further comprises a flange arranged at the lower end of the hollow member 204, wherein the hollow member 204 and/or the flange provides a smooth surface or has a smooth profile, whereby upon collision with the knee, the impact force is distributed over a larger surface area and thus further mitigating risks of severe knee injury.
The protective covering device 200 is removably attached to the yoke of the universal joint 102 using a nut bolt mechanism 202, where the nut and bolt mechanism secures the protective covering device 200.
The protective covering device 200 is manufactured using one or more of polyethylene, fiber reinforced resin, etc.
The protective covering device may be manufactured using injection molding process or any other suitable process.
In the specification the terms "comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising" or any variation thereof and the terms "include, includes, included and including" or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.

A person skilled in the art would appreciate that the above invention provides a robust and economical solution to the problems identified in the prior art.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail.

We Claim:
1. A steering column 100 of a vehicle, the steering column 100 comprising:
an upper column 101;
a universal joint 102;
a shaft component 103; and
a protective covering device 200 having a hollow member 204, wherein the hollow member 204 encloses the universal joint 102 and accommodates for the free movement or rotation of the upper column 101 and the shaft component 103.
2. The steering column 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protective covering device 200 further comprises a flange arranged at the lower end of the hollow member 204, wherein the hollow member 204 and/or the flange has a smooth profile.
3. The steering column 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protective covering device 200 is removably attached to a yoke of the universal joint 102 using fastening means.
4. The steering column 100 as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fastening means comprises one of a nut bolt mechanism 202, screws, snaps, and press-fit.
5. The steering column 100 as claimed in claim 1, wherein said protective covering device 200 is a substantially cylindrical hollow member 204.