JP2000230936A - Acceleration detecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make freely settable the acceleration detection direction by setting an acceleration sensor together with a circuit board to a connector member and making the connector member rotatable with respect to a casing. SOLUTION: The connector member 20 is coaxially inserted from a supporting plate part 23 into a cylindrical body 10a of a casing 10 through an opening part of the casing, and tightened by a screw 15 via a washer 15a and a central part of a bottom wall of the cylindrical body 10a at a leading end face of the supporting plate part 23. At this time, an outer circumferential part of a disc part 22 is fitted in a circumferential wall 11 of the cylindrical body 10a along an inner face of the wall. Accordingly the connector member 20 is supported in the cylindrical body 10a of the casing 10 coaxially and freely mountably to a desired position. A circuit board 40 is secured to an outer wall of one side of the supporting plate part 23, and an acceleration G sensor 30 is loaded to a surface of the circuit board 40. A detection direction of the G sensor 30 is made parallel to the surface of the circuit board 40. The G sensor 30 is electrically connected through the circuit board 40 to inner end parts of both of connector pins of a connector part 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an acceleration detecting device suitable for use in an occupant protection device such as an air bag device for a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in an acceleration detecting device employed in an airbag device for a vehicle, FIGS.
There are those shown in. This acceleration detection device attaches a circuit board 3 on which an acceleration sensor 2 is mounted to an inner surface of a mounting board 1 by tightening a plurality of screws 4.
The casing 6 having the connector 5 is mounted on the inner surface of the mounting board 1 so as to cover the acceleration sensor 2 and the circuit board 3 at the opening.

Here, the acceleration detection direction of the acceleration sensor 2 is in the direction of arrow 7 shown in FIG. 10 (direction parallel to the inner surface of the mounting board 1).

[0004]

By the way, in the acceleration detecting device, as described above, the acceleration sensor 2 is mounted on the mounting board 1 together with the circuit board 3. For this reason, the direction in which the acceleration sensor 2 detects acceleration is determined by the state of attachment of the mounting board 1 to the vehicle.

For example, when the acceleration detecting device is mounted on a front upper surface of a vehicle as shown by reference numeral a in FIGS. 11 and 12, the connector 5 is turned rightward as shown in FIG. The detection direction of the acceleration sensor 2 is toward the rear of the vehicle. In addition, the acceleration detecting device is configured as shown in FIG.
1 and FIG. 12, when the connector 5 is attached to the front side surface of the vehicle with the connector 5 facing downward in FIG. 12, the detection direction of the acceleration sensor 2 is set in the front of the vehicle. Turn around.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the connector 5 is mounted on a dash panel in a vehicle cabin with the connector 5 turned rightward as shown in FIG. , The detection direction of the acceleration sensor 2 is directed downward of the vehicle. Therefore, the acceleration sensor 2 in the case where the acceleration detecting device is mounted as indicated by the reference numeral a as described above can detect the collision deceleration generated at the time of the collision ahead of the vehicle, but as described above, the reference numeral b
When the acceleration sensor 2 is attached as shown by the reference numeral c, the collision deceleration cannot be detected. For this reason, there is a problem that the degree of freedom of the detection direction as the acceleration detecting device with respect to the acceleration is extremely low.

[0007] On the other hand, in order to increase the degree of freedom, the acceleration detecting device attached as shown by reference numeral a, even when attached as shown by reference numerals b and c, moves forward of the vehicle. In order to detect a collision deceleration occurring at the time of a collision, an acceleration sensor capable of performing such a detection may be newly employed in place of the acceleration sensor 2 or a new casing may be employed in place of the casing 6. Must be adopted so that the acceleration sensor 2 can detect the collision deceleration when the mounting position of the mounting substrate 1 with respect to this new casing is mounted as indicated by reference numerals b and c.

As a result, it is necessary to separately prepare a casing and an acceleration sensor in consideration of a detection direction as an acceleration detecting device with respect to the acceleration, which is troublesome and causes a high cost. . Therefore,
An object of the present invention is to enable the acceleration detection device to set the direction in which acceleration is detected by an acceleration sensor as needed while using the casing and the acceleration sensor as they are in the acceleration detection device in order to deal with the above. I do.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an acceleration detecting device according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a cylindrical casing (10, 50), and a coaxially and coaxially disposed inside the cylindrical casing. A longitudinal connector member (20, 60) supported so as to be freely attachable to a desired position, and a circuit board (40) mounted on a part (23, 63) of the connector member.
And an acceleration sensor (30) mounted on the circuit board.

According to this, the acceleration sensor is mounted not on the casing but on the connector member together with the circuit board. Therefore, in setting the detection direction of the acceleration sensor, the connector member is rotatable with respect to the casing, and the angle of rotation of the connector member with respect to the casing is set so that the detection direction of the acceleration sensor is oriented in a desired direction. The detection direction of the acceleration sensor can be freely set only by adjusting.

As a result, it is possible to provide an acceleration detecting device capable of setting the direction of detection of acceleration by the acceleration sensor as needed while using the casing and the acceleration sensor as they are. Further, as described above, since the casing and the acceleration sensor are used as they are, there is no need to separately prepare the casing and the acceleration sensor in accordance with the change in the setting of the detection direction of the acceleration sensor, and there is no increase in cost.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tubular casing (10, 50), a longitudinal connector member (20, 60), and a part (23, 6) of the connector member.
The circuit board (40) mounted on 3) and the acceleration sensor (30) mounted on this circuit board are inserted into the casing from its axial opening as an integral component,
An acceleration detection device is provided that is mounted on the casing at a desired position so as to be freely attached.

According to this, the acceleration sensor is mounted not on the casing but on the connector member together with the circuit board. Therefore, the same function and effect as the first aspect can be achieved. According to the third aspect of the present invention,
3. The acceleration detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the casing is a cylindrical casing (10), and the connector member is coaxially fitted into a peripheral wall of the cylindrical casing at an axially intermediate portion thereof. Shape fitting part (2
2) is provided.

Thus, the same operation and effect as those of the first or second aspect of the present invention can be achieved, and the connector member is coaxially formed in the peripheral wall of the cylindrical casing at the circular fitting portion. When fitted, the support of the connector member in the cylindrical casing can be further ensured.
Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the casing is a casing having a square cross section (50), and the connector member is coaxially fitted into a peripheral wall of the casing having a square cross section at an axially intermediate portion thereof. Department (6
2) is provided.

Thus, the same operation and effect as those of the first or second aspect of the invention can be achieved, and the connector member is coaxially provided in the peripheral wall of the casing having a square cross section at the square fitting portion. The support of the connector member in the casing having a square cross section can be further ensured.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a vehicle acceleration detecting device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this acceleration detecting device includes a casing 10, a connector member 20,
An acceleration sensor 30 (hereinafter referred to as a G sensor 30);
And a circuit board 40 for the sensor 30. The casing 10 includes a cylindrical tube 10a.
In the lower middle portion of the peripheral wall 11a, two lateral flanges 1 are provided.
3 project from each other in opposite directions. A rear flange 14 is provided below the bottom wall 12 of the cylindrical body 10a so as to protrude outward along the axial direction of the cylindrical body 10a.

As a result, the cylindrical body 10a is detachably attached to an appropriate place of the vehicle by the two lateral flanges 13 and the rear flange 14. In addition, each flange 13,
Both lower surfaces are in the same plane. Connector member 20
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector member 20 is coaxially assembled in the cylindrical body 10 a.
A connector part 21 and a disk part 22 which is a circular fitting part
And the support plate 23 are coaxially and integrally provided.

The connector member 20 is coaxially inserted from the opening into the cylindrical body 10a of the casing 10 from the support plate 23, and the washer 15a and the cylindrical body 10a Is fastened by a screw 15 through the center of the bottom wall 12. At this time, the disk portion 22 is fitted into the peripheral wall 11 of the cylindrical body 10a along its inner surface at the outer peripheral portion. Thereby, the connector member 20 is supported coaxially and freely at a desired position in the cylindrical body 10 a of the casing 10.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (c), the connector portion 21 is formed by coaxially supporting both connector pins 21b in an elliptical peripheral wall portion 21a. The connector 21 is electrically connected to the external circuit at both connector pins 21b by inserting a connector of the external circuit (not shown) into the elliptical peripheral wall portion 21a.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the circuit board 40 is fixed to an outer wall on one side of the support plate 23, and the G sensor 30 is mounted on the surface of the circuit board 40. Here, the detection direction of the G sensor 30 is in the direction of the arrow S shown in FIG. 4A (parallel to the surface of the circuit board 40). The G sensor 30 is connected to the connector pins 21 b of the connector section 21 through the circuit board 40 at the terminals.
Is electrically connected to the inner end of the.

In the first embodiment constructed as described above, as described above, the connector member 20 is inserted and fitted into the cylindrical body 10a of the casing 10 from its support plate portion 23 and fastened to the screw 15. It is supported and fixed by. Further, as described above, the G sensor 30 is provided not on the cylinder 10a but on the support plate 2 of the connector member 20 via the circuit board 40.
3 is fixed to one outer wall.

Therefore, for example, the casing 10 is
In order to attach the connector to the vehicle at a position indicated by any one of a to c,
Only by fixing the angle position around the axis with respect to the axis 0a to an appropriate angle with the screw 15, the detection direction of the G sensor 30 is changed as shown in FIG.
Can be set freely in a required direction at a position indicated by any of a to c.

This means that the casing 10 and the G sensor 3
This means that the detection direction of the G sensor 30 can be freely adjusted only by adjusting the angular position around the axis of the connector member 20 with respect to the cylindrical body 10a as described above after using the same without changing 0. . Also, as mentioned above,
Since the casing and the acceleration sensor are used as they are, there is no need to separately prepare the casing or the acceleration sensor in accordance with a change in the setting of the detection direction of the acceleration sensor, and there is no increase in cost.

The connector member 20 is connected to the cylindrical body 10a.
When the connector member 20 is adjusted at a rotation angle of 0 ° to 360 ° around the axis in the cylindrical body 10a based on a state in which the angle around the axis is 0 ° (see FIG. 5A). The detection direction of the G sensor 30 can be changed to an angle around the axis of 0 ° to 360 °. Note that FIGS. 5B to 5D show 0 ° and 9 °.
It is an example of a state of 0 °, 180 °, and 270 °. (Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the vehicle acceleration detecting device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, the acceleration detecting device comprises a casing 50, a connector member 60, and the first
It is composed of the G sensor 30 and the circuit board 40 described in the embodiment. The casing 50 has a square cylindrical body 50a, and a square annular flange 52 is formed on the inner surface of the peripheral wall 51 of the cylindrical body 50a along the circumferential direction at an axially intermediate portion thereof. Further, both lateral support portions 5 are provided at the lower intermediate portion of the peripheral wall 51 of the cylindrical body 50a.
3 project from each other in opposite directions. A rear support portion 55 is provided below the bottom wall 54 of the cylindrical body 50a so as to protrude outward along the axial direction of the cylindrical body 50a.

The tubular body 50a is detachably attached to an appropriate place of the vehicle by means of the two lateral support portions 53 and the rear support portion 55. It should be noted that both lateral support portions 53 and rear support portions 55
Are in the same plane. The connector member 60 is shown in FIG.
The connector member 60 is coaxially assembled in the cylindrical body 50a, as shown by
, A square plate portion 62 that is a square fitting portion, and a support plate portion 63 are coaxially and integrally provided.

The connector member 60 is coaxially inserted into the cylindrical body 50a of the casing 50 from the support plate 63 through the opening thereof.
2 sit on top. The connector member 60 is fastened to the flange 52 by a plurality of screws at the square plate portion 62, and is supported coaxially and freely at a desired position in the cylindrical body 50a. However, the outer peripheral shape of the square plate portion 62 is the same as the inner peripheral surface shape of the peripheral wall 51 of the cylindrical body 50a,
The outer peripheral dimension of the square plate portion 62 is slightly smaller than the inner peripheral surface dimension of the peripheral wall 51 in the circumferential direction, and
Is set to be larger than the inner peripheral dimension.

The connector portion 61 has the same configuration as the connector portion 21 described in the first embodiment, and the connector portion 61 is attached to the elliptical peripheral wall portion 21a and both connector pins 21b, respectively. Corresponding elliptical peripheral wall 6
1a and both connector pins 61b. The connector 61 is formed by inserting a connector of an external circuit (not shown) into the elliptical peripheral wall 61a.
At b, it is electrically connected to the external circuit.

The circuit board 40 described in the first embodiment
As shown in FIG. 6, the circuit board 40 is fixed to an outer wall on one side of a support plate 63 instead of the support plate 23.
A G sensor 30 is mounted on the surface of the. here,
The detection direction of the G sensor 30 is upward in FIG. 6A. In addition, the G sensor 30 has two terminals,
It is electrically connected to the inner ends of both connector pins 63b of the connector section 63 through the circuit board 40.

In the second embodiment constructed as described above, as described above, the connector member 60 is fitted into the cylindrical body 50a of the casing 50 from its support plate 63, and , The flange 52
It is fixedly supported. Further, as described above, the G sensor 30 is fixed to the outer wall on one side of the support plate 63 of the connector member 60 via the circuit board 40 instead of the cylindrical body 50a.

Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, for example, when the casing 60 is attached to the vehicle by the supporting portions 53 and 55 at a position indicated by any of a to c in FIG. By changing the direction of the support plate portion 63 and inserting the connector member 60 into the cylindrical body 50a, the angle around the axis of the connector member 60 with respect to the cylindrical body 50a is changed every 90 °, and the detection direction of the G sensor 30 is changed. FIG.
Can be freely set in a required direction at a position indicated by any of a to c.

This is because the casing 60 and the G sensor 3
In this case, the G direction of the G sensor 30 can be adjusted by only adjusting the angle around the axis of the connector member 60 with respect to the cylindrical body 50a as described above.
This means that it can be performed freely at every 0 °. After this setting, the square plate portion 62 of the connector member 60 is
To the screw.

Incidentally, the connector member 60 is connected to the cylindrical body 50a.
When the connector member 20 is adjusted at an angle of 90 ° around the axis in the cylindrical body 10a with reference to a state in which the angle around the axis is 0 ° inside (see FIG. 5A), FIGS. 5 (d)
The state shown by. Thereby, the detection direction of the G sensor 30 can be changed every 90 degrees. In practicing the present invention, the present invention is not limited to vehicles, and may be applied to various vehicles such as ships and aircraft.

In practicing the present invention, the casings 10 and 60 are not limited to the shapes described in the above embodiments, and may be a casing having a regular polygonal cylinder such as a regular hexagon. May be changed to The outer peripheral shape of the disk portion of the connector member 20 or the square plate portion of the connector member 60 is changed in accordance with the inner peripheral surface shape of the cylindrical body of the casing.

In the first embodiment, an example will be described in which the connector member 20 is fitted into the cylindrical body 10a of the casing 10 and then supported on the bottom wall 12 of the casing 10 by fastening with the screw 15. However, the present invention is not limited to this. After the connector member 20 is inserted into the cylindrical body 10a, press-fitting, caulking,
The bottom wall 12 may be supported using various fixing methods such as bonding and bolts.

Further, in the first embodiment, the coaxial support of the connector member 20 in the cylindrical body 10a is performed only by the disk portion 22, but the present invention is not limited to this. The width of the portion 23 is increased to the inner diameter of the cylindrical body 10a, and the coaxial support of the connector member 20 in the cylindrical body 10a is also performed by the width direction both ends of the support plate portion 23 in addition to the disk portion 22. By doing so, the coaxial support can be further ensured.

In implementing the present invention, in each of the above embodiments, the G sensor 30 is mounted on the circuit board 40 so that the acceleration detection direction as shown in each of the above embodiments can be secured. Instead, for example, the acceleration detection direction may be opposite to the acceleration detection direction as described in the above embodiments, or the acceleration detection direction may be orthogonal to the surface of the circuit board 40. Alternatively, the G sensor 30 may be attached to the circuit board 40.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a vehicle acceleration detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the acceleration detection device.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of a connector member in a longitudinal sectional state of a casing in the acceleration detection device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 2B is a front view of the connector member in another longitudinal sectional state of the casing in the acceleration detection device of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a left side view of the acceleration detection device in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a right side view of the acceleration detection device of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the acceleration detection device of FIG.

FIG. 4A is a plan view of the connector member of FIG. 1, FIG. 4B is a left side view of the connector member,
(C) is a right view of the connector member, (d)
FIG. 4 is a front view of the connector member.

5 (a) to 5 (d) show a case where a connector member is 90 ° from a position at an angle of 0 ° around an axis in the acceleration detection device of FIG. 1;
It is a right-and-left side view showing the state where it rotated inside cylinder 10a every time.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a connector member in a longitudinal sectional state of a casing of a vehicle acceleration detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a front view of a connector member in other longitudinal section states, and (c) is a left view of the acceleration detector concerned.

7A is a plan view of the connector member of FIG. 6, and FIG. 7B is a left side view of the connector member.
(C) is a right view of the connector member, (d)
FIG. 4 is a front view of the connector member.

FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (d) show a case where the connector member is 90 ° from a position at an angle of 0 ° around the axis in the acceleration detecting device of FIG. 6;
It is a right-and-left side view showing the state where it changed into an angle for every, and was inserted in cylinder 50a.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional vehicle acceleration detecting device.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the acceleration detection device of FIG.

11 is a partial plan view showing an example of a state of attachment of the acceleration detection device of FIG. 9 to a vehicle.

12 is a partial side view showing an example of a state in which the acceleration detection device of FIG. 9 is attached to a vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 50 ... casing, 20, 60 ... connector member,
23, 63: Support plate portion, 22: Disk portion, 30: G sensor, 40: Circuit board, 62: Square plate portion.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tubular casing (10, 50), and a longitudinal connector member (20, 6) coaxially supported in the tubular casing so as to be freely attached to a desired position.
0), a circuit board (40) mounted on a part (23, 63) of the connector member, and an acceleration sensor (30) mounted on the circuit board. 2. A circuit board (40) comprising a tubular casing (10, 50), a longitudinal connector member (20, 60), a circuit board (40) mounted on a part (23, 63) of the connector member, and the circuit board An acceleration sensor, wherein an acceleration sensor (30) mounted on the casing is inserted as an integral component into the casing from an axial opening thereof, and is supported in the casing so as to be freely attached at a desired position. 3. The casing according to claim 1, wherein the casing is a cylindrical casing (1).
0), wherein the connector member is provided with a circular fitting portion (22) coaxially fitted in a peripheral wall of the cylindrical casing at an axially intermediate portion thereof. Item 3. The acceleration detection device according to item 1 or 2. 4. The casing is a casing having a square cross section (50), and the connector member is coaxially fitted into a peripheral wall of the casing having a square cross section at an axially intermediate portion thereof. The acceleration detecting device according to claim 1, further comprising a unit.