JP2001332876A - Flat cable holder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flat cable holder in which a flat cable can be bent smoothly while being protected against damage. SOLUTION: A flat cable 11 comprises a plurality of wires (conductors) 11a integrated in parallel and can be bent freely. The flat cable 11 is mounted on a planar auxiliary bending plate 12 comprising a convex copper body wherein the planar auxiliary bending plate 12 follows up bending motion of the flat cable 11. The flat cable 11 is secured to the auxiliary bending plate 12 through a thermal shrinkage tape 13 which is wound spirally along the longitudinal direction of the flat cable 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat cable holder, and more particularly, to a flexible flat cable having a plurality of conductors integrated in parallel and fixed to a sliding door of a vehicle body. The present invention relates to a flat cable fixing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, many electric components are mounted on a vehicle in a complicated layout, and these electric components are connected by a wire harness. By the way, a vehicle has a slidable member such as a slide door and a slide seat. In order to electrically connect an electrical component mounted on the slidable member and a body panel, it is necessary to electrically connect the body panel. A wire harness with a special structure is required.

[0003] Conventional wire harnesses of this type include:
There is a flat cable in which a plurality of fine electric wires are integrated in parallel. This flat cable has a flexible configuration, so that it can slide freely following the sliding operation of the parts, so that it can slide on the body panel and slide. Conduction can be reliably performed between the electrical components attached to the flexible parts.

On the other hand, the flat cable mounted between the body panel and the slide door often needs to be protected and supported by some kind of support member because the slide door is frequently opened and closed. As a conventional support structure of this kind,
There is a heat-shrinkable tube coated on the flat cable,
Since the heat-shrinkable tube covers the entire flat cable, the flat cable can be interposed between the body panel and the slide door while reliably protecting the flat cable.

However, if the flat cable is covered with the heat-shrinkable tube as described above, the heat-shrinkable tube is provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the flat cable, so that the rigidity of the flat cable becomes too high by the thickness. As a result, the flat cable cannot be bent smoothly.

As a method for solving such a problem, there is, for example, a method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-346424, which is shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a flat cable, and the flat cable 1 is mounted on a thin bending auxiliary plate 2.

A bent portion 2a is provided on both side surfaces of the bending auxiliary plate 2, and the flat cable 1 is fixed to the bending auxiliary plate 2 by being supported by the bent portion 2a.

In this case, the flat cable 1
Is simply placed on the bending assist plate 2, the flat cable 1 can be smoothly bent without increasing the overall thickness of the flat cable 1.

[0009]

However, in such a conventional flat cable 1 supporting structure,
Since the flat cable 1 is supported by the bent portions 2a provided on both side surfaces of the bending auxiliary plate 1, there is a problem that the flat cable 1 is damaged by the bent portion 2a.

There is another problem that the flat cable 1 does not bend smoothly at the portion where the bent portion 2a exists.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a flat cable holder capable of smoothly bending a flat cable while preventing the flat cable from being damaged.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a holder for holding a flexible flat cable in which a plurality of conductors are integrated in parallel, supporting the flat cable and following a bending operation of the flat cable And a heat-shrinkable tape wound around the flat cable and the bending assist plate, and the heat-shrinkable tape is spirally wound along the longitudinal direction of the flat cable. And is fixed to the bending assist plate.

[0013] In this case, the flat cable is fixed to the auxiliary bending plate by the heat-shrinkable tape wound in a spiral shape. Can follow the bending operation of

According to the present invention, the flat cable can be fixed to the bending auxiliary plate by the spirally braided heat-shrinkable tape and bent, so that the flat cable can be prevented from being damaged. In addition, the flat cable can be smoothly bent while preventing the rigidity of the flat cable from increasing.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of a holder for a flat cable according to the present invention.

First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 1, 11
Is a flat cable wired between the body panel of the car and the sliding door, etc.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a plurality of electric wires (conductors) 11a which are integrated in parallel and are freely bendable.

The flat cable 11 is placed on a flat bending auxiliary plate 12 made of a convex copper body or the like.
The bending auxiliary plate 12 bends following the bending operation of the flat cable 11.

The flat cable 11 has a heat-shrinkable tape 13
The heat-shrinkable tape 13 is wound and fixed in a spiral shape along the longitudinal direction of the flat cable 11.

More specifically, when the portion indicated by A of the heat-shrinkable tape 13 is enlarged as shown in FIG. 1A, it becomes a spiral shape as shown in FIG. 1B. This is because the heat-shrinkable tube as a whole is spirally wound in a diagonal direction of a plate-like tape as shown in FIG. 1C.

In the present embodiment, since the flat cable 11 is fixed to the auxiliary bending plate 12 by the heat-shrinkable tape 13 wound in a spiral shape, when the flat cable 11 is bent, the heat-shrinkable tape 13 extends in the longitudinal direction of the flat cable 11. And can follow the bending operation of the flat cable 11.

In the present embodiment, the flat cable 11 can be fixed and bent to the bending auxiliary plate 12 by the heat-shrinkable tape 13 wound in a spiral shape as described above, so that the flat cable 11 is damaged. Can be prevented, and the rigidity of the flat cable 11 can be prevented from increasing.
Can be smoothly bent.

The flat cable 11 of the present embodiment is of the FFC (flexible flat cable) type, but is not limited thereto.
A print circuit) type flat cable may be used.

[0024]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flat cable can be fixed to the auxiliary bending plate by the heat-shrinkable tape wound spirally and bent, thereby preventing the flat cable from being damaged. In addition to preventing the flat cable, the flat cable can be smoothly bent by preventing the rigidity of the flat cable from increasing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a flat cable fixing device according to the present invention, wherein FIG.
(B) is a figure which shows a heat-shrinkable tape, (c) is a block diagram of a heat-shrinkable tube.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a conventional flat cable fixing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Flat cable 12 Bending auxiliary plate 13 Heat shrink tape

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A holder for holding a flexible flat cable in which a plurality of conductors are integrated in parallel, wherein the holder supports the flat cable and bends following a bending operation of the flat cable. A flat auxiliary bending auxiliary plate, and a heat-shrinkable tape wound around the flat cable and the auxiliary bending plate. The heat-shrinkable tape is spirally wound along the longitudinal direction of the flat cable and the bending is performed. A flat cable holder fixed to an auxiliary plate.