JP2001050241A - Control cable joint structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To assure smooth synchronous operation while saving space for the distribution of a cable. SOLUTION: A guide groove 32 is formed in a casing 31 for slidable guide of a wire 12 of an operation side cable 10, an equalizer 33 is stored in the casing 31 and the wire 12 of the operation side cable 10 is connected to the center of the equalizer 33 and wires 22, 22A of release side cables 20, 20A to both ends of the equalizer 33. The wire 12, when pulled out, is redirected along the guide groove 32 to make the wires 22, 22A balanced by the equalizer 33 for synchronous operation. Bending in the casing 31 results in distribution space to be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control cable joint structure having a branch structure for distributing a pulling operation by one operating side cable to a plurality of operations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an automobile seat that can slide in the front-rear direction with respect to the floor of a passenger compartment, when an occupant operates one lever, a lock mechanism is released by a cable connected to the lever. Then, the seat can be slid forward and backward on the slide rail. Here, two parallel slide rails are provided between the seat and the cabin floor, and from the lever to the lock mechanism, in order to transmit the operation of the lever to the lock mechanism corresponding to each slide rail. The cable in which two wires are accommodated in one conduit has a bifurcated structure branched into two.

[0003]

However, in the conventional bifurcated structure, the cable from the operating lever to the release portion of the lock mechanism is connected by routing a cable containing a wire in a conduit. Therefore, when the radius of curvature in the cable routing is reduced, the sliding resistance of the wire with respect to the conduit increases, so that it is difficult to reduce the radius of curvature of the routing, and a large space is required for the routing. Further, if the two release-side cables do not operate in synchronization, there is a problem that a smooth release operation cannot be performed.

The present invention relates to a control cable joint structure for outputting a plurality of branches by one operation input.
An object of the present invention is to save space in cable routing and to ensure smooth synchronous operation.

[0005]

According to the present invention, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the end of each conduit of one operating cable and a plurality of operating cables each comprising a conduit and a wire housed inside the casing is provided. Fixed to the casing, only the respective wires are introduced into the casing, and the respective wires of the operating-side cable and / or the respective operating-side cables are guided in the casing. A cable connection mechanism that accommodates, in the casing, a cable angle change mechanism that changes a relative angle of the operation side cable with respect to the pulling direction, and a connection member that connects the operation side cable and each wire of the plurality of operation side cables. Forming and pulling the wires of the operating side cable by operating the operating member to connect to the wires of the operating side cables respectively. Characterized in that a plurality of tension target was set to simultaneously pull operated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a guide groove is formed in the casing to guide a wire of the operation side cable so as to be slidable and to provide a relative angle in a direction in which both ends of the cable are pulled out. Along with constituting the change mechanism, an equalizer accommodating chamber for accommodating the equalizer constituting the connecting member is provided in the casing adjacent to the guide groove, and introduced from outside the casing and guided by the guide groove. The wire of the operation side cable whose relative angle at both ends of the guide groove is changed is connected to each wire of each operation side cable via the equalizer, and is led out of the casing. According to a third aspect, in the second aspect, a connection portion between the outer cable and the casing of the operation side cable has a length for adjusting a length of the outer cable from the casing to the connection portion with the operation member. An adjusting mechanism is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a pulley is rotatably housed in the casing, and the wires of the operation side cable and the respective wires of the operation side cables are respectively connected to the pulley in opposite directions. The connection member and the cable angle changing mechanism are configured so as to be wound and connected by the pulley. A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the fourth aspect, a winding radius of the wire of the operation side cable around the pulley is larger than a winding radius of each wire of the operation side cable around the pulley.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, a connecting portion between at least one of the outer cables and the casing of each of the operating side cables is provided from the casing of the outer cable to a connecting portion between the outer cable and the object to be pulled. And a length adjusting mechanism for adjusting the length of the moving member.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the wires of the operation side cable and the wires of the plurality of operation side cables are introduced into the casing of the cable connection mechanism, and are respectively connected to the connection members in the casing. In addition, since the cable connection mechanism includes a cable angle changing mechanism that guides a wire and changes a relative angle of each pulling direction of the operating cable and the operating cable, the pulling direction of the operating cable is The working side cable can be pulled out at different angles of pulling direction. Since the change in the relative angle of the pull-out direction of each cable is performed by guiding the wire in the casing, the cable is not affected by the sliding resistance between the conduit of each cable and the wire. Accordingly, the wire may be guided in the casing so as to obtain an arbitrary relative angle, and the radius of curvature can be set small.
As a result, the wiring space for each cable can be reduced. In addition, since an arbitrary relative angle can be given to the operation side cable and the operation side cable in the casing, the degree of freedom in arranging each cable increases. Therefore, in each working-side cable, it is possible to arrange the cables so that there is no large difference in the sliding resistance between the conduit and the wire, and it is possible to reliably synchronize the operations of the plurality of working-side cables.

More specifically, in the second aspect, the wire of the operating-side cable is slidably guided by the guide groove.
The direction of the wire can be changed with a small radius, and the operation of each working-side cable can be reliably synchronized by connecting the wire whose direction has been changed to the equalizer. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the operation side cable is provided with a length adjusting mechanism for adjusting the length from the casing of the outer cable to the connection portion with the operation member, the assembling of the equalizer in the equalizer housing chamber after the assembly is performed. By adjusting the length adjustment mechanism, even when the arrangement position is biased toward the operating side cable side,
By drawing the equalizer to the operation side cable side, contact between the equalizer and the casing can be prevented, and the operation of each operation side cable can be synchronized.

According to the fourth aspect, by connecting each wire to the pulley in the casing so as to be able to be wound, a relative angle can be given to a pulling direction of each cable depending on a difference in a drawing direction with respect to the pulley. In addition, since the relative angle is changed by winding on the pulley, the degree of freedom in the pull-out direction of each cable is increased, and the operation side cables are not affected by the sliding resistance. it can. Furthermore, in the fifth aspect, by making the winding radius of the operating-side cable around the pulley larger than the winding radius of the operating-side cable around the pulley, the burden of operation can be reduced, and smooth operation can be performed. .

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the length adjusting mechanism is provided at the connection between the conduit of the operating side cable and the casing, even if there is a variation after the routing of each cable, a reliable synchronous operation can be performed. Can be adjusted.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment in which the control cable joint structure 1 of the present invention is applied to unlocking of a position adjusting mechanism of an automobile seat will be described. 1 and 2 show a main part of a control cable joint structure 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1
0 is an operation side cable, 20 and 20A are two release side cables, 30 is an operation side cable 10 and a release side cable 2
0A and 20A.

The operation side cable 10 has a well-known structure in which a wire (inner cable) 12 is accommodated inside a deformable conduit (outer cable) 11.
One end 13 of the conduit 11 is an adjustment mechanism that can be screwed to the casing 31 of the cable connection mechanism 30. The end 13 is provided with a nut (not shown) for fixing the end 13 to the casing 31 after adjusting the length.

The release cables 20, 20A also have a well-known structure in which wires (inner cables) 22, 22A are accommodated inside deformable conduits (outer cables) 21, 21A. The ends 23 and 23A on the casing 30 side are fixed to the casing 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cable connecting mechanism 30 includes a thin box-shaped casing 31 in which a rectangle and an arc are connected to each other.
Are formed slidably, and a guide groove 32 for giving a relative angle to a drawing direction at both ends thereof, and an accommodation chamber 34 for accommodating an equalizer 33 as a cable connecting member. Here, the guide groove 32 has a sliding groove of 15 mm in radius and a 1/4 circular arc from the outer end face of the casing 31 to the inside of the casing 31 so as to change the drawing direction of both ends of the operation side cable 10 by 90 °. It is formed toward.

The casing 31 in the inner direction of the guide groove 32
Inside is the operating side cable 1 drawn out of the guide groove 32
0 in the direction in which the wire 12 is pulled out.
Are slidably disposed. Here, the equalizer 32
Is a balance-shaped one in which the cable end 12a of the wire 12 is connected to the center in the left and right directions, with the connection position with the wire 12 as the apex, and equidistant positions on both sides thereof, the wires 22 of the release side cables 20, 20A. , 22A cable end 2
2a and 22b are respectively connected. The casing 31 includes an operation side end cover 30A shown in FIG.
The release-side end cover 30B shown in FIG. 4 is covered by the casing 31 in order to fix the end 13 of the operation-side cable 10 and the ends 23, 23A of the release-side cables 20, 20A to the casing 31, respectively. Each locking claw 35,
36 and are integrated with each other.

The control cable joint structure 1 having the above-described structure is disposed, for example, between an automobile seat 50 and a vehicle floor (not shown) as shown in FIG. The other end 14 of the conduit 11 is fixed in the vicinity of the unlocking operation lever provided at the lower front part of the cable, and the cable end 12b of the wire 12 is connected to the movable portion of the operation lever. The release-side cables 20 and 20A have the other ends 24 and 24A of the conduits 21 and 21A fixed near the release portion of the lock mechanism of the slide adjustment mechanism provided between the seat 50 and the floor of the passenger compartment.
The cable ends 24a and 24b of the wires 22 and 22A are connected to the release portion of the lock mechanism.

With the above configuration, when the operation lever is operated to pull the wire 12 of the operation side cable 10, the wire 12 of the cable connection mechanism 30 is moved to the guide groove 32.
Is drawn out of the casing 31 while sliding, and is drawn into the guide groove 32 from the storage chamber 34 side.
The displacement of the wire 12 causes the equalizer 33 to move the accommodation room 3
4 and into which the wires 22, 2
2A is pulled into the casing 31. At this time, the equalizer 33 is pulled at its center by the wire 12, and pulls in the connected wires 22, 22A while balancing them in a balance-like manner, so that the wires 22, 22A are unlocked in synchronization.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the wire 12 is pulled by the operation lever, the wire 2
Since the equalizers 2 and 22A are balanced by the equalizer 33, the locks can be reliably and synchronously released. In addition, since the cable coupling mechanism 30 has the guide groove 32 formed in the casing 31 and changes the pull-out direction of both ends of the operation-side cable 10, a large space is not required for routing each cable. Space can be saved.

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the control cable joint structure 1 according to the second embodiment, a rotatable arc-shaped pulley 40 is disposed in a casing 31, and a wire 12 of an operation-side cable 10 is provided.
The wires 22 and 22A of the release-side cables 20 and 20A are connected so as to be wound in the opposite direction. Incidentally, 41
Is a rotation limiting pin for limiting the rotation of the pulley 40. With the configuration described above, in the second embodiment, the wire 12 or the wires 22 and 22A can be reversibly wound around the pulley 40, and the direction in which the wire 12 and the wires 22 and 22A are pulled out can be changed. Cable 10
And the relative angle between the release side cable 20 and the release side cable 20A can be changed.

As described above, since the relative angle is changed and the wires 12, 22, and 22A are connected by using the pulley 40, the space for arranging the cables 10, 20, and 20A can be reduced. And a reliable synchronous operation of the wires 22, 22A can be performed.
Here, the winding radius of the wire 12 of the cable 10 is set to be larger than that of the wires 22 and 22A of the cables 20 and 20A, and the operation can be reliably performed with a small operation force.

The ends 25 of the conduits 21, 21A of the release cables 20, 20A fixed to the casing 31,
25A is an adjusting mechanism that can be screwed to the casing 31 and can adjust the length of the conduits 21 and 21A. It can be performed. The length adjusting mechanism may be only one of the ends 25, 25. still,
After adjusting the length, the ends 25, 25A are attached to the ends 25, 25A.
A nut (not shown) for fixing A to the casing 31 is provided. In the second embodiment, a length adjusting mechanism is not provided at the end 15 of the conduit 11 of the operation side cable 10 fixed to the casing 31.

As described above, according to the present invention, as compared with the case where the relative angle is changed only with the cable, the wiring can be performed in a small space, and a reliable synchronization operation can be obtained. In each of the above embodiments, the cable has a relative angle of 90 °, but the relative angle may be larger or smaller. In each of the embodiments described above, the purpose of releasing the lock of the position adjustment in the seat of the vehicle is shown, but any one that requires two branch outputs with one operation input can be used. In each of the above embodiments, two branches are shown, but three or more branches may be used. In that case, in the case of the first embodiment, the number of equalization outputs is increased by stacking up and down, and in the case of the second embodiment, the number of branch outputs is increased by increasing the number of pulley grooves. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view of a main part of a first embodiment of a control cable joint structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a main part of the first embodiment of the control cable joint structure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a three-view drawing showing an operation-side end cover attached to a casing of the first embodiment of the control cable joint structure.

FIG. 4 is a three-view drawing showing a release-side end cover attached to the casing of the first embodiment of the control cable joint structure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the arrangement state of each cable when the first embodiment of the control cable joint structure of the present invention is applied to unlocking of a position adjusting mechanism of an automobile seat.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment of the control cable joint structure of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment of the control cable joint structure of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a state in which cables are routed when the second embodiment of the control cable joint structure of the present invention is applied to unlocking of a position adjusting mechanism of a vehicle seat.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 control cable joint structure 10 operation side cable 11 conduit 12 wire 13 end (end of conduit, length adjustment mechanism) 20 20A release side cable (operating side cable) 21 21A conduit 22 22A wire 25 25A end (end of conduit , Length adjustment mechanism) 30 cable connection mechanism 31 casing 32 guide groove (cable angle changing mechanism) 33 equalizer (connection member) 34 storage chamber 40 pulley (connection member, cable angle changing mechanism)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An end of each conduit of one operation side cable and a plurality of operation side cables each composed of a conduit and a wire housed inside thereof is fixed to a casing, and only the respective wires are placed in the casing. To guide the wires of the operating cable and / or the operating cables in the casing to change the relative angle between the pulling direction of the operating cable and the pulling direction of the operating cable. A cable connecting mechanism for housing a cable angle changing mechanism and a connecting member for connecting each wire of the operating side cable and a plurality of operating side cables in the casing; and forming a wire of the operating side cable as an operating member. By pulling by operation, a plurality of pulling objects connected to each wire of each operation side cable are pulled simultaneously. Control cable joint structure characterized by the following. 2. The cable angle changing mechanism is formed by slidably guiding a wire of the operation side cable and forming a guide groove for giving a relative angle in a drawing direction at both ends thereof in the casing. An equalizer accommodating chamber for accommodating an equalizer constituting the connecting member is provided in the casing adjacent to the guide groove, and is introduced from outside the casing and guided by the guide groove, and a relative angle at both ends of the guide groove The control cable joint structure according to claim 1, wherein the wires of the operation-side cable modified from the above are connected to the respective wires of the respective operation-side cables via the equalizer and led out of the casing. 3. A connecting portion between the outer cable of the operating cable and the casing is provided with a length adjusting mechanism for adjusting a length of the outer cable from the casing to the connecting portion with the operating member. The control cable joint structure according to claim 2, wherein: 4. A pulley is rotatably accommodated in the casing, and a wire of the operation-side cable and a wire of each of the operation-side cables are connected to the pulley so as to be wound in opposite directions, respectively. The control cable joint structure according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member and the cable angle changing mechanism are constituted by a pulley. 5. The control cable joint according to claim 4, wherein a radius of winding the wire of the operation side cable around the pulley is larger than a radius of winding each wire of the operation side cable around the pulley. Construction. 6. A connecting portion between at least one of the outer cables and the casing of each of the operation side cables, a length for adjusting the length of the outer cable from the casing to the connecting portion with the object to be tensioned. The control cable joint structure according to claim 5, further comprising an adjustment mechanism.