JP2002084637A - Construction for fixing curving portion of flexible belt- type conductor cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent breakdown of a cable and to freely set the direction of cable. SOLUTION: A flexible belt-type conductor cable 1 is curved in the course thereof to form a loop portion 4. A binding means in, which a supporting member 2 is fixed to a base portion 3, is provided at the crossing portion of a cable portion 1a, extended in one direction from the loop portion 4 and a cable portion 1b extended in the other direction crossing the cable portion 1a. A crossing angle of the cable portions 1a, 1b, extended in respective directions around the support member 2 can be varied freely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for fixing a curved portion of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable, and more particularly to a structure for preventing a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable from being broken and providing a high degree of freedom in a routing path. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Flexible printed circuits (F)
PC) is relatively easy to bend and route because it has flexibility. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-209417 discloses a structure in which the arrangement direction of a flexible print circuit is changed by using a clip.

In such a structure, as shown in FIG. 10, a flexible printed circuit 101 is bent and overlapped, and the overlapped portion is formed by a plate-like body 102 from both surfaces.
The two plate-like members 102 and 103 are held together by fitting and locking. The fitting engagement is achieved by forming a projecting clip 104 on one plate 103 and inserting the clip 104 into the other plate 102 by passing the clip 104 through the flexible printed circuit 101.
05.

[0004] In the above structure, the flexible print circuit 101 can be bent to change the wiring direction with a simple structure using the plate-like members 102 and 103.

[0005]

However, in the above-described configuration, there is a danger that the reliability may decrease such that a crack occurs at the bending point of the flexible print circuit 101. In addition, since the bending point of the flexible printed circuit 101 is creased, the reliability is reduced when the flexible printed circuit 101 is reattached or reused, and the bending angle is arbitrarily changed after bending and fixing. Can not do. Furthermore, in order to bend the entire bend evenly along the fold,
A step of plastically deforming the print circuit 101 by applying pressure is required separately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a flexible strip-shaped conductor capable of preventing breakage of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable and realizing a high degree of freedom in a routing path through which a cable can be freely routed in any direction. An object of the present invention is to provide a cable bending portion fixing structure.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
The flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is bent in the middle to form a loop portion, and the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable routed from the loop portion in one direction and crossed therewith and routed in the other direction. A binding means is provided at an intersection with the flexible strip conductor cable, and the crossing angle of the flexible strip conductor cable routed in each direction around the binding means can be arbitrarily changed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the flexible strip conductor cable is not bent and overlapped,
Since the cable is bent into a loop shape, no folds are formed and no breakage or breakage of the conductor occurs. Also, binding means is provided at the intersection of the flexible strip conductor cables routed in each direction of the loop portion, and the intersection angle of the flexible strip conductor cables routed in each direction around the binding means is determined. Since the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable can be arbitrarily changed, the wiring direction of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable can be freely changed even after the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is arranged at a predetermined position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the flexible band-shaped conductor cable bending structure according to the first aspect, wherein the binding unit is inserted into a hole formed in the flexible band-shaped conductor cable. And a pedestal portion which is disposed on the opposite side of the flexible belt-shaped conductor cable from the support member and rotatably supports the support member.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the function of the first aspect, the binding means has a shaft portion inserted through a hole formed in the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable. Since the supporting member and the pedestal portion rotatably support the supporting member are formed in two parts, the number of parts is small and the cost can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the bent portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to the second aspect, wherein the pedestal portion is provided with a locking portion fixed to the mounted portion. Features.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the function of the second aspect of the present invention, since the locking portion fixed to the mounting portion is provided on the pedestal portion, the loop portion can be simplified. It can be fixed to the attached part.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the flexible band-shaped conductor cable fixing structure according to the second aspect, wherein the flexible band-shaped conductor cable routed in one direction is inserted into the support member. A cable holding portion is provided for holding the cable.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the function of the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the function of the second aspect of the present invention, the cable holding means allows the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable routed in one direction to pass through the support member and hold the cable. By providing the portion, by rotating the support member with respect to the pedestal portion, the crossing angle of the intersecting flexible strip-shaped conductor cable can be arbitrarily variable.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the bent portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to the first aspect, wherein the binding means includes a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable routed in one direction. A base portion having a first cable disposition groove to be disposed, a rotation holding member fixed on a surface on which the first cable disposition groove is formed, and an annular groove formed on an outer peripheral surface; A rotation that is rotatably attached to the rotation holding member and has a second cable disposition groove formed on a surface facing the rotation holding member for disposing a flexible strip conductor cable routed in the other direction. And a member.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the operation of the first aspect of the present invention, the flexible strip-shaped conductor cables routed in each direction are formed on the base portion and the rotating member, respectively. And the rotatable member is rotatable with respect to the rotation holding member fixed to the base portion so that the crossing angle of the flexible strip conductor cable can be freely routed in any direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to make a hole in the cable itself, and the cable width can be reduced accordingly.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a structure for fixing a curved portion of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is formed at an intersection. The hole is a long hole substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the flexible strip conductor cable, and the length of the flexible strip conductor cable is adjustable.

According to the invention of claim 6, claims 2 to
In addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 4, since the hole formed at the intersection of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is an elongated hole substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cable, the bending of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is performed. It is possible to arbitrarily change the length of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable in the portion.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> As shown in FIG. 1, the bending portion fixing structure of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to this embodiment is as follows.
It comprises a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1, a support member 2, which is a binding means, and a pedestal 3.

"Flexible strip-shaped conductor cable" The flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 is a strip-shaped conductor cable having flexibility, for example, a flexible printed circuit (F).
PC), Flexible Flat Cable (FFC),
A revolving wire or the like is used. Flexible printed circuits have conductors (such as copper foil) on the surface of the base film.
Is formed in close contact by an etching method or a plating method, and the surface is insulated and covered with a coverlay film. The flexible flat cable has a structure in which a rolled conductor (such as copper foil) is sandwiched between base films using an adhesive. The revolving wire has a structure in which a plurality of electric wires are arranged side by side and welded.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 has a loop portion 4 which is curved at an intermediate portion thereof. In order to form the loop portion 4, for example, one end of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 is twisted leftward while making a U-turn toward the front, and is arranged in the other direction so as to intersect with the original flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1. It is formed by ropes. A hole 6 through which the shaft 5 of the support member 2 is inserted is formed at the intersection of the loop 4 of the flexible strip conductor cable 1. Hole 6
Must be opened at a position where it does not hang on the conductor.

[Supporting Member] As shown in FIG. 1, the supporting member 2 includes a shaft 5 inserted into the hole 6, a retaining portion 7 formed in the middle of the shaft 5, and a shaft 5. And a cable pressing portion 8 formed at the base end of the cable. The shaft portion 5 is formed as a support shaft having an outer diameter enough to be inserted into the hole portion 6 formed in the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1, and has a slit 9 from the distal end to the proximal end portion. I have. The retaining part 7
It is formed as a cone at a position near the tip of the shaft portion 5, and a step surface 10 with the shaft portion 5 is formed on the back surface 12 of the pedestal portion 3 described later.
By locking the pedestal portion 3a, the pedestal portion 3 is prevented from coming off. The cable holding portion 8 is formed as a disk having a larger diameter than the hole portion 6, and prevents the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 from coming out of the end of the shaft portion 5.

[Pedestal Section] As shown in FIG. 1, the pedestal section 3 has a disk section 12 having a through hole 11 through which the shaft section 5 is inserted.
And a pair of locking portions 13 provided on the back surface 12 a of the disk portion 12. The disk part 12 includes the shaft part 5
Is smaller than the length of the flexible belt-shaped conductor cable 1 when the supporting member 2 is supported. Locking part 1
Reference numerals 3 and 13 are for fixing the pedestal portion 3 to the attached portion, and are formed as claws extending downward from the back surface 12a of the disk portion 12. The pedestal portion 3 can be fixed to the mounting portion by inserting and locking the locking portions 13 and 13 into the mounting holes formed in the mounting portion.

[Explanation of Operation] In the bending portion fixing structure of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 configured as described above, the cable is routed in one direction with reference to the support member 2 provided at the intersection of the loop portion 4. Angle θ between the cable portion 1a of the flexible band-shaped conductor cable 1 and the cable portion 1b of the flexible band-shaped conductor cable 1 crossed and routed in the other direction.
(The angle in the state of FIG. 2) can be arbitrarily varied. For example, by moving one or both of the cable sections 1a and 1b, the intersection angle θ is increased as shown in FIG.
1 and the intersection angle θ2 can be easily reduced as shown in FIG.

Even when the intersection angle θ is changed in this manner, the loop portion 4 is not folded and overlapped in a curved form, so that even when the intersection angle θ is narrowed, the loop portion 4 is bent. Therefore, the intersection angle θ can be freely changed without breaking or breaking the conductor.

[Application of the Invention] The bent portion fixing structure of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to the present invention is routed to a portion where bending movement is required and routing space is limited, for example, a steering with a tilt mechanism of an automobile. It is effective when you do.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the flexible band-shaped conductor cable fixing structure of the present invention is applied to a steering mechanism of an automobile. In this example, the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 is applied to a cable connecting between a device provided on the steering side and a device provided on the vehicle body side, and the cable itself is interlocked with the rotation and tilt operation of the steering. It was made to follow.

More specifically, the pedestal 3 (not shown)
Is fixed to the combination switch unit 14, the cable portion 1a routed in one direction of the flexible strip conductor cable 1 is routed along the steering shaft 15, and the cable portion 1b routed in the other direction is It is wired to the combination switch unit 14.

With this configuration, even when the steering wheel 16 is tilted as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4, the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 follows the tearing wheel 16. Further, in the structure of the present embodiment, since the intersection angle θ of the intersecting cable portions 1b can be freely changed, it is effective when the cable is laid in a narrow wiring space. Further, even after the pedestal portion 3 is fixed to the combination switch unit 14, the intersection angle θ can be freely changed.

<Second Embodiment> In the second embodiment, the support member 2 is provided with a cable holding portion 17 for inserting and holding the flexible strip conductor cable 1 routed in one direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the cable holding portion 17 is formed as a rectangular body having a cable insertion hole 18 through which the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 is inserted, and is provided at the base end of the shaft portion 5. Have been. Cable insertion hole 18
Are formed so that the width direction of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 is oriented in the height direction.

The cable portion 1a inserted through the cable insertion hole 18 is disposed so as to intersect with the cable portion 1b routed in the other direction, and the other cable portion 1b routed on a flat surface. In contrast, one cable portion 1a is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the flat surface.

In the curved portion fixing structure having such a configuration, the shaft portion 5 is rotated by moving the cable portion 1a inserted into the cable insertion hole 18 in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1a, 1b can be freely changed to any angle.

<Third Embodiment> The third embodiment is an example in which the cable portions 1a and 1b routed in each direction are routed in substantially the same direction. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the cable portion 1b routed in the other direction of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 is routed so as to be turned upside down by about 180 degrees and turned on one of the cable portions 1a. Superimpose.

The third embodiment is suitable for a case where both ends of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 are routed in directions close to each other. Also in such a configuration, the cable portion 1 that crosses by moving one or both of the cable portions 1a and 1b around the support member 2 is also used.
a, 1b can be freely changed to any angle.

<Fourth Embodiment> In the fourth embodiment, the crossing angle θ of the intersecting cable portions 1a and 1b is formed without forming a hole through which the supporting member 2 is inserted into the flexible strip conductor cable 1.
Is made variable. Specifically, the binding means was configured as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the bundling means is a first means for arranging the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 routed in one direction.
A base portion 20 having a cable arrangement groove 19, and a surface 20a on which the first cable arrangement groove 19 is formed,
Rotation holding member 2 having annular groove 21 formed on outer peripheral surface 22a
2 and the flexible strip conductor cable 1 which is rotatably attached to the rotation holding member 22 by engaging with the annular groove 21 and is routed in the other direction on the surface 23a facing the rotation holding member 22. And a rotating member 24 having a second cable arrangement groove 23 formed therein.

"Base" The base 20 is formed, for example, as a disk, as shown in FIG. This base part 2
A first cable arrangement groove 19 for arranging the cable portion 1a of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 arranged in one direction as shown in FIG. By arranging the cable portion 1a in the first cable arrangement groove 19, the position in the cable width direction is regulated, and rattling of the cable portion 1a is suppressed. Also,
Locking claw insertion holes 26, 26 are formed on the upper surface 20a of the base 20 to allow a pair of locking claw portions 25, 25 formed on a rotation holding member 22 to be described later to pass therethrough.

"Rotation holding member" The rotation holding member 22 is formed as a disk having substantially the same outer diameter as the base 20, as shown in FIG. Then, the rotation holding member 2
2 has an annular groove 21 for slidably engaging a guide claw 28 of a pair of rotation guide pieces 27, 27 formed on a rotation member 24 described later. The rotation holding member 22 has locking claw portions 25, 25 that are inserted into the locking claw portion insertion holes 26, 26 to fix the rotation holding member 22 to the base portion 20. .

[Rotating Member] The rotating member 24 is formed as a disk having substantially the same outer diameter as the rotation holding member 22, as shown in FIG. Then, the rotation holding member 22
On the lower surface 23a opposite to the second portion, the cable portion 1b of the flexible strip conductor cable 1 routed in the other direction is arranged.
Cable arrangement groove 23 is formed. By arranging the cable portion 1b in the second cable arrangement groove 23, the position in the cable width direction is regulated, and the rattling of the cable portion 1b is suppressed.

[Description of Operation] In the structure configured as described above, when the cable portion 1b routed in the other direction is moved, the rotation guiding the cable portion 1b is performed as shown by the arrow in FIG. The member 24 rotates with respect to the rotation holding member 22. By the rotation of the rotation member 24, the intersection angle θ of the intersecting cable portions 1a and 1b can be freely changed to an arbitrary angle.

Although the specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various changes accompanying the gist of the configuration of the present invention are possible.

For example, in the first to third embodiments, the hole 6 at the intersection of the cable portions 1a and 1b is a circular hole, but the hole 6 may be a long hole. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, a slit-shaped long hole 6a is formed in one of the cable portions 1a so as to be substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1. A circular hole 6b is formed in the other cable 1b. By doing so, the length of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 1 can be
It can be arbitrarily changed with a simple structure.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the pedestal 3
Is provided separately from the mounted portion, but the pedestal portion 3 may be integrated with the mounted portion itself such as an automobile. By doing so, the number of parts can be further reduced. Similarly, the base 20 of the fourth embodiment may be integrated with the mounted part itself.

Also, in any of the structures of the second to fourth embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, a portion such as a steering wheel equipped with a tilt mechanism of an automobile, which needs to be bent and movable and has a limited wiring space. These embodiments can be applied.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is not bent and overlapped, but is bent into a loop shape. As a result, no fold is made and no breakage or breakage of the conductor occurs. Also, binding means is provided at the intersection of the flexible strip conductor cables routed in each direction of the loop portion, and the intersection angle of the flexible strip conductor cables routed in each direction around the binding means is determined. Since it can be arbitrarily changed, it is possible to freely change the wiring direction of the flexible strip conductor cable even after the flexible strip conductor cable is arranged at a predetermined position.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect, the binding means has a shaft portion inserted through a hole formed in the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable. Since the supporting member and the pedestal portion rotatably support the supporting member are formed in two parts, the number of parts is small and the cost can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the present invention, since the locking portion fixed to the mounting portion is provided on the pedestal portion, the loop portion can be simplified. It can be fixed to the attached part.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the present invention, the cable holding means allows the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable routed in one direction to pass through the supporting member and hold the cable. By providing the portion, by rotating the support member with respect to the pedestal portion, the crossing angle of the intersecting flexible strip-shaped conductor cable can be arbitrarily variable.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect of the present invention, a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable routed in each direction is formed on the base and the rotating member. And the rotatable member is rotatable with respect to the rotation holding member fixed to the base portion so that the crossing angle of the flexible strip conductor cable can be freely routed in any direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to make a hole in the cable itself, and the cable width can be reduced accordingly.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention,
In addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 4, since the hole formed at the intersection of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is an elongated hole substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the cable, the bending of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is performed. The length of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable in the portion can be arbitrarily varied.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bent portion fixing structure of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to a first embodiment, and showing a state where each component is disassembled.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a bent portion fixing structure of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to the first embodiment, and showing a state where each component is assembled.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a bent portion fixing structure of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to the first embodiment, wherein FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing a state where the intersection angle is widened, and FIG. It is a perspective view.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example in which the bending portion fixing structure of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to the first embodiment is applied to a steering with a tilt mechanism of an automobile.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a bending portion fixing structure of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing an example in which a cable holding portion is provided on a support member, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the example which passed the cable through the part.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show a bent portion fixing structure of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to a third embodiment, in which FIG. 6A is a perspective view of a state in which the cable portions are arranged in substantially the same direction, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which gave the intersection angle to the part.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a binding structure for fixing a curved portion of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to a fourth embodiment, in which a crossing angle can be changed without making a hole in the cable itself.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a structure for fixing a curved portion of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to a fourth embodiment, in which an intersecting angle of a cable portion is made variable by rotating a rotating member.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example in which a hole at the intersection of a flexible strip conductor cable is a long hole.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which a bent portion of the flexible print circuit is clamped by sandwiching a plate-like plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flexible strip-shaped conductor cable 2 Support member 3 Base part 4 Loop part 5 Shaft part 6 Hole part 17 Cable holding part 19 First cable arrangement groove 20 Base part 22 Rotation holding member 23 Second cable arrangement groove 24 Rotation Element

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A flexible strip-shaped conductor cable which is bent in the middle of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable to form a loop portion, and which is routed from the loop portion in one direction and intersects with the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable in the other direction. Binding means are provided at the intersections with the flexible strip conductor cables routed in the area, and the intersection angle of the flexible strip conductor cables routed in each direction around the binding means can be arbitrarily varied. A curved portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable, characterized in that: 2. The fixed structure of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to claim 1, wherein the binding means has a shaft inserted into a hole formed in the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable. A curved portion of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable, comprising: a supporting member having a support member and a pedestal portion disposed on the opposite side of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable from the support member and rotatably supporting the support member. Fixed structure. 3. The flexible portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to claim 2, wherein the pedestal portion is provided with a locking portion fixed to an attached portion. For fixing the curved portion of a conductive strip-shaped conductor cable. 4. The flexible band-shaped conductor cable fixing structure according to claim 2, wherein the flexible band-shaped conductor cable routed in one direction is inserted into and held by the support member. A bent portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable, comprising a holding portion. 5. The structure for fixing a bent portion of a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to claim 1, wherein the binding means arranges the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable routed in one direction. A base having a placement groove, a rotation holding member fixed on a surface on which the first cable placement groove is formed and an annular groove formed on an outer peripheral surface, and a rotation holding member engaged with the annular groove A rotatable member which is rotatably mounted on the second member and has a second cable disposition groove formed therein for disposing a flexible strip conductor cable routed in the other direction on a surface facing the rotation holding member. A curved portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable. 6. A flexible portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable according to claim 2, wherein said hole formed at an intersection of said flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is flexible. A curved portion fixing structure for a flexible strip-shaped conductor cable, wherein the length of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable is adjustable as an elongated hole parallel to the longitudinal direction of the flexible strip-shaped conductor cable.