JP2000275120A - Torque sensor for power steering - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a torque sensor for power steering capable of effectively preventing water invasion or the like by easily manufacturing and mounting in a housing. SOLUTION: The torque sensor for power steering comprises a printed board 3 having a variable resistor 6 and an electronic circuit or the like, a case body 10 made of a synthetic resin and having a connector 14 connected to the board 3 and inserted into a front part side, a regulating hole 18 provided corresponding to the resistor 6 of the board 3 at a rear part side formed lower than the front part side and mounting fitments 16a of the board 3 inserted to both sides, a waterproofing member 20 installed at the rear part side of the body 10 to block the hole 18, and a plate 25 covering an upper surface of the member 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a torque sensor for a power steering of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronically controlled hydraulic power steering (hereinafter simply referred to as a power steering) detects a steering force by measuring a torsion amount (torque) of a steering shaft with a torque sensor, and detects the steering force by an electronic control unit. A hydraulic pressure corresponding to the steering force is applied to the steering shaft to assist the rotational force, and the torque sensor is usually mounted on a housing (column) in the engine room.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional torque sensor of this type. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a torque sensor main body which is a main part of the torque sensor 40, on which a large number of electronic components (not shown) are mounted, and a printed circuit board provided with an electronic circuit for measuring a torque and detecting a steering force is provided. 42, a plate 43 made of a metal plate, a mounting bracket 44 for mounting the printed circuit board 42 to the plate 43, and the like.

[0005] Reference numeral 45 denotes a connector harness including a plurality of strands 46, one end of which is connected to a connector 47. The other end of each strand 46 is fixed to a plate 43, and the tip is connected to the printed circuit board 42. Have been. Reference numeral 48 denotes a substantially umbrella-shaped side cover having an attachment portion 49 to the housing, which covers the torque center main body 41 and is attached to the housing, and has a waterproof and dustproof function for the printed circuit board 42.
A hole 50 is formed in the center of the side cover 48, and the hole 50 has a cylindrical portion 52 at a lower portion, and a dust cover 51 into which a plurality of strands 46 are inserted is connected. 52 is filled with a resin 53 such as urethane resin for waterproofing and dustproofing.

The thus constructed torque sensor is housed in the mounting recess 34 provided in the housing 33, and the upper portion thereof is covered with a dust cover 48 to lock the mounting portion 49 to the locking portion 35 of the housing 33. , Mounted together.

[0006]

As described above, since the torque sensor 40 is usually mounted on the housing 33 in an engine room where the environment is poor, special attention must be paid to waterproofing and dustproofing. For this reason, in the conventional torque sensor 40, the resin 53 is filled in the insertion portion of the wire 46 of the dust cover 48 that covers the torque sensor main body 41 to ensure waterproofness and dustproofness of the printed circuit board 42. In doing so, a filling step and a drying step of the resin 43 are necessary, and in particular, the drying step requires as much time as 24 hours. Further, since the wire 46 must be fixed to the plate 43 and connected to the printed circuit board 42 in a state where the dust cover 48 is attached to the connector harness 45, there is a problem in workability such as extremely troublesome. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a power steering torque sensor which can be easily manufactured and mounted on a housing, and which can surely prevent flooding or the like. It is what it was.

[0008]

A power steering torque sensor according to the present invention is provided with a printed circuit board having a volume and provided with an electronic circuit and the like, and a synthetic resin-made front side connected to the printed circuit board. A connector is inserted, and an adjustment hole is provided on the rear side formed lower than the front side corresponding to the volume of the printed circuit board,
A case body in which the mounting brackets of the printed circuit board are inserted on both sides, a waterproof member made of an elastic material, installed on the rear side of the case body and closing the adjustment hole, and an upper surface of the case body and the waterproof member. And a cover plate.

The mounting bracket for the printed circuit board is formed in a substantially U-shape, the upper surface of the upper horizontal piece is exposed to the upper surface of the case body, and the lower horizontal piece having a screw hole is removed from the lower surface of the case body. It protruded and was inserted in the case body.

In addition, a bolt is inserted into a bolt insertion hole provided on the front side of the case body to which the printed and pliton board is mounted, and the plate, the waterproof member and the bolt provided on the rear side of the case body. Bolts were inserted through the insertion holes, and these bolts were screwed into screw holes provided in the housing, respectively, to integrally mount the plate, the waterproof member, and the case body to the housing.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a torque sensor according to the present invention. 3 is equipped with many electronic components (not shown),
A printed circuit board provided with an electronic circuit or the like for detecting the steering force by measuring the torque of the steering shaft, and screw insertion holes 4 are provided substantially on both sides at the center. Reference numeral 5 denotes a through hole through which a terminal piece of a connector described later is inserted, and reference numeral 6 denotes a volume.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a block-shaped case main body formed by molding a synthetic resin. The front side 11 is formed substantially from the center to the front side, and a half of the front side 11 is provided via a step 13. The rear side 12 having a height of 1 forms a substantially L-shaped side surface. Reference numeral 14 denotes a connector having a plurality of terminal pieces 15, which are inserted into the front side 11 of the case body 10 and are integrally formed, and are open at the front surface. The terminal pieces 15 protrude from the lower surface of the case body 10.

Reference numerals 16a and 16b denote a pair of substantially U-shaped mounting brackets made of a conductive material, which are inserted and opposed to the front side 11 and are integrally formed. The lower horizontal piece exposed on the upper surface of the case body and having the screw hole 17 protrudes from the lower surface of the case body 10. 18
Denotes a volume 6 provided on the printed circuit board 3 on the rear side 12.
And 19 are bolt insertion holes penetrating at four corners.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a block-shaped waterproof member made of an elastic material such as rubber, which is installed on the rear side 12 of the case main body 10 and is formed to have the same size as the front side 11 and has the same size as the rear side. Are provided with bolt insertion holes 21 at the corners. Reference numeral 25 denotes a plate made of a metal plate.
It is formed in a size to cover the upper surface of the “0” and has bolt insertion holes 26 at four corners.

Next, an example of a procedure for assembling the torque sensor having the above-described components and attaching the torque sensor to the housing will be described. First, the mounting bracket 16 provided on the case body 10
The printed circuit board 3 is brought into contact with the lower horizontal pieces of a and 16b, and the terminal pieces 15 of the connector 14 are inserted into the through holes 5 of the printed board 3 respectively. Then, the screw 31 inserted into the screw insertion hole 4 of the printed circuit board 3 is screwed into the screw hole 17 provided in the lower horizontal piece, the printed circuit board 3 is attached to the case body 10, and each terminal piece 15 is attached to the printed circuit board 3. Solder. Thereby, the torque sensor main body 2 is configured. Then, a driver or the like is inserted into the volume adjustment hole 18 of the case body 10 to adjust the volume 6 provided on the printed circuit board 3 to a predetermined value. Thus, the adjusted torque sensor main body 2 is assembled in advance.

In order to mount the torque sensor body 2 on the housing as described above, first, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the torque sensor body 2 is housed in a mounting recess 34 provided in the housing 33. . And the case body 10
After the waterproof member 20 is placed on the rear side 12 to close the volume adjustment hole 18, the plate 25 is placed on the case body 10 and the waterproof member 20.

The plate 17 and the case body 10
The bolts 32 are inserted through the bolt insertion holes 26 and 19 on the front side 11 of the
0 and bolt insertion hole 2 in rear side 12 of case body 10
The bolts 32 are inserted through the bolts 6, 21, and 19, and the bolts 32 are screwed into screw holes 35 provided in the housing 33 through the packing 36, and these are integrally fixed. Installation to the is completed. As shown in FIG. 5, such a torque sensor 1 has a plug 37, one end of which is connected to a control unit.
4, the torque sensor 1 (printed circuit board 3) and the control unit are electrically connected.

According to the present invention, the torque sensor 1 can be mounted on the housing 33 with a simple structure.
A volume adjusting hole 18 is provided with a waterproof member 20 made of an elastic material.
, So that water and the like do not enter from these portions. Further, since the connector 14 inserted into the case body 10 is used for transmission and reception of the electric signal between the torque sensor 1 and the control unit, there is no possibility that water or the like may enter from this portion.

The mounting brackets 16a and 16b inserted into the case main body 10 support the Priton board 3, and thereby, the printed board 3 and the mounting bracket 16 are inserted.
a, 16b, plate 25 contacting with this, bolt 32
Also, a circuit leading to the housing 33 is formed, and a function of releasing a noise signal to the housing 33 is also provided.

[0020]

A torque sensor for a power steering according to the present invention has a printed circuit board having a volume and an electronic circuit provided thereon, a connector inserted at the front side, a volume adjustment hole provided at the rear side, and printing. Since the case body in which the mounting bracket of the substrate is inserted, a waterproof member made of an elastic material and installed at the rear side of the case body to close the adjustment hole, and a plate that covers the upper surface of the case body and the waterproof member, are provided. The structure is simple, and it is possible to reliably prevent water or the like from entering through the adjustment holes of the connector and the volume.

The mounting bracket for the printed circuit board is formed in a substantially U-shape, the upper surface of the upper horizontal piece is exposed to the upper surface of the case body, and the lower horizontal piece having a screw hole is projected from the lower surface of the case body. Since the printed circuit board is inserted into the case main body, the printed circuit board can be securely mounted on the lower surface of the case main body, and a noise signal can be released to the housing using the mounting bracket.

Further, a bolt is inserted into a bolt insertion hole provided on the front side of the case body to which the plate and the printed circuit board are mounted, and a bolt is inserted into the bolt insertion hole provided on the rear side of the plate, the waterproof member and the case body. Through,
Since these bolts are screwed into screw holes provided in the housing and the plate, the waterproof member and the case body are integrally mounted on the housing, they can be easily mounted with a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure for mounting a torque sensor according to the present invention to a housing.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of connection between a connector and a plug of the torque sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a conventional torque sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Torque sensor 2 Torque sensor main body 3 Printed circuit board 6 Volume 10 Case main body 11 Front side 12 Rear side 14 Connector 16a, 16b Mounting bracket for Priton substrate 18 Adjustment hole for volume 20 Waterproof member 25 Plate 19, 21, 26 Bolt insertion hole 33 Housing 34 Mounting recess 35 Screw hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printed circuit board having a volume and provided with an electronic circuit or the like, and a connector made of synthetic resin, the connector connected to the printed circuit board being inserted into the front side, being formed lower than the front side. An adjustment hole is provided on the rear side corresponding to the volume of the printed circuit board, and a case main body in which mounting brackets for the printed circuit board are inserted on both sides, and an elastic material is provided on the rear side of the case main body. A torque sensor for a power steering, comprising: a waterproof member that closes the adjustment hole; and a plate that covers upper surfaces of the case body and the waterproof member. 2. A mounting bracket for a printed circuit board is formed in a substantially U-shape, an upper surface of an upper horizontal piece is exposed on an upper surface of a case body, and a lower horizontal piece having a screw hole is projected from a lower surface of the case body. 2. The torque sensor for a power steering according to claim 1, wherein the torque sensor is inserted into the case body. 3. A bolt insertion hole provided at a front side of a case body to which a plate and a printed circuit board are attached, and a bolt insertion hole provided at a rear side of the plate, the waterproof member and the case body. 3. The power steering device according to claim 1, wherein the plate, the waterproof member, and the case body are integrally attached to the housing by inserting bolts into the housing, and screwing the bolts into screw holes provided in the housing. Torque sensor.