JP2003061237A - Cable guide chain - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cable guide chain which enables two-dimensional or three-dimensional movements by selecting special materials to use as the materials of the chain while a conventional cable guide chain can be used for a uniaxial apparatus only. SOLUTION: Among pairs of links (2 and 3) and stays (6 and 7) supporting the links (2 and 3) with prescribed intervals, at least the links (2 and 3) are links (17) made of elastomer or combinations of links (17) made of elastomer and links (18) made of hard material.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cable guide chain in which a cable or a hose is housed and which is movably guided, and more particularly, a cable guide chain which is movable in a direction other than a uniaxial direction. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a pair of links and a stay having a pair of links facing each other, a stay for holding the pair of links apart from each other, and a connecting means for connecting adjacent links at their ends are provided. A frame is formed by connecting a plurality of links so that the ends of the links can be rotated by a predetermined angle and extend, and a cable or hose is housed inside and bendable in one axis direction. The provided cable guide chains are known. As an example of how to use a conventional cable guide chain, as shown in FIG. 8, the cable guide chain has a moving portion 103 in a state in which one end is fixed to the fixed portion 102 and the other end is extended from the fixed portion 102 and warped in a U-turn shape. It is fixed to the mounting part. The moving unit 103 reciprocates in one axis along with the operation of the apparatus, and moves the moving unit from the solid line position to the broken line position or from the broken line position to the solid line position.

Since the cable guide chain is reciprocally moved in the uniaxial direction as described above, a hard synthetic resin or a metal material such as stainless steel or aluminum is preferably used as a material to be used. In particular, hard plastics such as polyamide, which are lightweight and have excellent wear resistance, are used. The movement of the cable guide chain in the direction parallel to the surface of the link, that is, in the vertical direction as seen in the figure, is made bendable by rotating a predetermined angle by the connecting means, which enables smooth operation. . And it is not necessary to move in the direction crossing the plane of the link,
In order to prevent the wear of the links and the noise of the links colliding with each other, the links are connected without play.

[0004]

On the other hand, in industrial robots and machine tools, in addition to the above-mentioned cable guide chain intended to move in only one axis direction, there are devices that require three-dimensional movement, such as polyamide. When a cable guide chain made of hard material is used for three-dimensional operation, if a force is applied in a direction that crosses the surface of the link, an unreasonable load will be applied at the connecting part and the connecting part will be short-lived. Wears out, and durability deteriorates, which causes large noise. Further, there is a problem that cutting dust is generated due to wear of the parts, which cannot be applied to installation in a clean room.

For example, when the operation shown in the figure is performed by a conventional cable guide chain, the operation in the direction of arrow A is a uniaxial operation, so there is no problem, but movement in the direction transverse to the plane of the link does not occur. As described above, the operation is structurally unreasonable, which causes damage to the cable guide chain. Further, when the connecting portion is provided with play, it is possible to move in a direction transverse to the surface of the link to some extent, but since the play is large at the connecting portion, it is easily worn and durability deteriorates. There is a problem that noise is generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by selecting and using a specific material, a cable guide chain which has originally been usable only for a device in a uniaxial direction has a two-dimensional or three-dimensional structure. An object is to provide a cable guide chain that can operate.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a pair of opposed links, a stay for holding the pair of links apart from each other, and a plurality of adjacent links at their end portions. In a cable guide chain having a connecting means for connecting and storing a cable or a hose therein and being bendable in a uniaxial direction, at least the link is an elastomer, or at least the link of the elastomer is combined. Is characterized by.

Further, the stay is made of an elastomer or a combination of stays made of the elastomer is used, and the elastomer is thermoplastic.

Further, the hardness of the elastomer is 70 to 8
It is characterized in that it is in the range of 5 degrees, and at least one link made of an elastomer is provided in an arrangement in which a plurality of the links are connected by the connecting means.

It has a pair of links facing each other, a stay for holding the pair of links apart from each other, and a connecting means for connecting a plurality of adjacent links at their end portions, and accommodates a cable or hose inside. In the cable guide chain provided so as to be bendable in the uniaxial direction, at least the link is made of an elastomer, or an elastomer link and a hard material link are combined.

With such a structure, with respect to the movement in the direction parallel to the surface of the link, the links are naturally bent in a predetermined angle direction by the rotation of the links by the connecting means. On the other hand, if you move it across the surface of the link,
The link made of an elastomer is elastically deformed, and the cable guide chain is deformed like a twist so that the direction can be changed.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a cable guide chain according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the cable guide chain 1 includes a pair of opposed links 2, 3
And stays 6 and 7 that hold the pair of links 2 and 3 apart from each other, and a connecting unit 8 that connects adjacent links at their ends. In the figure, one end 4 and the other end 5 of the links 2 and 3 are shown.

An example of a link connecting method will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 6 and 7. 6 is a side view showing a state in which adjacent links are connected by a connecting means, and FIG. 7 is a top view of FIG. The connecting means 8 is provided at one end 4 and the other end 5 of the links 2a and b, and a fitting hole 9 provided at the one end 4 and a fitting hole 9 provided at the other end 5 of the links 2a and b.
A protrusion 10 that fits in the hole 10, a hole 11 that communicates with the protrusion 10 in a direction transverse to the protrusion direction, and a pin 12 that is inserted into the hole 11 when the protrusion 10 is fitted in the fitting hole 9.
The diameter of the fitting hole is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the protrusion,
There is no play when connecting. Further, when the projection 10 is inserted into the fitting hole 9, when the pin 12 is inserted into the hole 11, the pin 10 is prevented from coming off, and there is no play. A washer may be provided between the pin 12 and the protrusion 10 to suppress frictional resistance when the cable guide chain rotates.

The cable guide chain 1 also has an angle restricting means 13 for restricting the rotation range of the link to a predetermined angle. Each motion restricting means 13 has a convex portion 14 provided around the protrusion 10 and a concave portion 15 provided around the fitting hole 9. One end 4 and the other end 5 of adjacent links are provided so that when the projection 10 is fitted into the fitting hole 9 and overlapped, the convex portion 14 moves within the concave portion 15 about the connecting means 8 within a predetermined range. The area of the recess 15 is appropriately set to determine the angular range of rotation of the link. In the embodiment, the cable guide chain 1 is regulated so as to rotate in one direction, and the cable guide chain 1 is regulated so as to be linear in the opposite direction, and is set so as not to rotate. Reference numeral 16 is a stay 6,
The links 2, 3 are guided so as to guide the grooves provided at both ends of 7.
The engaging part which fixes is shown.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pair of links 2 and 3 hold the stays 6 and 7 at the engaging portions 16 to form a frame,
A plurality of the frames are connected by the connecting means 8 described above, and
And, as shown in FIG. 3, a cable guide chain is formed. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the cable guide chain in a state where adjacent links are connected by the connecting means, and FIG. 3 is a top view showing the cable guide chain seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG.

According to the present invention, at least the links 2 and 3 of the links 2 and 3 and the stays 6 and 7 are made of an elastomer,
Alternatively, it is possible to move in a direction other than the uniaxial direction by combining links made of an elastomer. In particular, it can be rotated transversely to the plane of the link. 2 and 3, links 17 made of an elastomer and links 18 made of a hard resin material are alternately arranged, and the stays 6 and 7 are detachably provided on the respective links. The stays 6 and 7 are attached to both the link 17 made of elastomer and the link 18 made of hard resin.

In the cable guide chain 1, at least the links are made of an elastomer, or it is a condition that at least links of the elastomers are combined, and the stay may be made of an elastomer. The elastomer is preferably TPE (thermoplastic elastomer: thermoplastic elastomer), which is easy to process and can have a desired shape by injection molding.
Of course, synthetic rubber may be used. The rubber hardness of the elastomer can be appropriately set according to the degree of deformation of the cable guide chain, but is preferably in the range of 70 to 85 degrees (A type hardness meter), and particularly preferably 80 degrees. When the rubber hardness exceeds 85 degrees, the amount of deformation is small and the cable guide chain is easily worn by excessive deformation. Further, if the rubber hardness is less than 70, the link is likely to be deformed, a load is applied to the connecting means, which poses a problem in terms of durability and shortens the life.

In the embodiment, the pin 12 is used as the connecting means 8.
Although a pair of links and one stay were integrally molded and the other stay was formed as a separate body to form a frame body by fitting, etc., the protrusion at one end of the link and the recess at the other end of the link were prevented. It may be a case of a cable guide chain in which and are connected by a method such as fitting.

With such a structure, as shown in FIG. 2, it rotates as shown in FIG.
This shows the case where the rotation in the direction is restricted and the ordinary cable guide chain using a hard resin material cannot rotate in the direction of arrow C. However, when at least an elastomer link is used, the cable guide chain is elastically deformed slightly and can rotate downward even if it is restricted by the angle restricting means as shown by the broken line. Further, by using an elastomer link as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to rotate in the arrow D direction or the arrow E direction as shown in the figure. At this time, bending occurs from the bent portion F in FIG.
The part extending downward remains straight, which causes the cable guide chain to twist and change direction. Furthermore, a guide rail may be provided in the straight portion.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. In the figure, in the cable guide chain 1, one of the pair of links is an elastomeric link 17 and the other is a hard resin material link 18, and they are connected alternately in the longitudinal direction. The stays 6 and 7 are provided so that all the pair of links are separated by a predetermined distance.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. In the figure, in the cable guide chain 1, every other link 17 made of an elastomer and a link 18 made of a hard material are connected, and stays 6 and 7 are provided only on the link 18 made of a hard material. The number of stays 6, 7 is a link 1 made of a hard resin material.
Since the cable guide chain is provided only on the cable guide chain 8, even if the cable guide chain is rotated in a direction other than the uniaxial direction and the cable guide chain is twisted, the stay and the connecting portion may come off. Absent.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. Figure 9 (1)
Shows a side view of the cable guide chain 1 arranged in an arch shape, and FIG. 9 (2) shows a top view of (1). One end is fixed, and the movement of the cable guide chain in the extending direction moves in the direction of arrow G as in the conventional case, and the rotation in the direction other than the uniaxial direction (H direction) also uses the elastomer link 17. It becomes possible to rotate smoothly. In the past, in such a case, the arch was formed using a flexible pipe, but when the weight of the cable inserted inside is heavy, the pipe collapses and a good arch can be formed. There wasn't.

In the example, elastomeric link 1
Although the example in which 7 and the link 18 made of the hard resin material are connected to each other is shown, the arrangement is not limited to this arrangement, and links made of, for example, an elastomer are provided between the links made of the hard resin material.
They may be connected to each other, or links made of elastomer may be arranged. Further, a washer may be attached to reduce friction when inserting the engaging pin into the connecting means for connecting the links.

[0024]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION In a cable guide chain formed by connecting a plurality of frame bodies consisting of links and stays by connecting means, at least the links are formed of an elastomer, or at least the links of the elastomers are combined, so far. The cable guide chain, which can rotate only in the uniaxial direction, can rotate in a direction other than the uniaxial direction, particularly in a direction traversing the surface of the link. Further, the link of the elastomer reduces friction due to friction, and the elastomer absorbs vibration and noise, so that noise can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a cable guide chain according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a cable guide chain.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing the cable guide chain as seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a cable guide chain showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a cable guide chain showing still another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a top view showing a state in which links are connected.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state in which links are connected.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the operation of a conventional cable guide chain.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing (1) another embodiment of the cable guide chain. (2) A schematic top view showing another embodiment of the cable guide chain.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Cable guide chain A few links 4 one end 5 other end 6, 7 stay 8 connection means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cable or hose having a pair of opposing links, a stay for holding the pair of links apart from each other, and a connecting means for connecting a plurality of adjacent links at their ends. In a cable guide chain that accommodates and is bendable in one axis direction, at least the links are elastomers, or a combination of the links of the elastomers is used. 2. The cable guide chain according to claim 1, wherein the stay is made of an elastomer or a combination of the stays made of the elastomer is used. 3. The cable guide chain according to claim 1, wherein the elastomer is thermoplastic. 4. The cable guide chain according to claim 1, wherein the hardness of the elastomer is in the range of 70 to 85 degrees. 5. The cable guide chain according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a plurality of links are connected by the connecting means, and at least every other link is made of an elastomer. . 6. A cable or a hose having a pair of links facing each other, a stay for holding the pair of links apart from each other, and a connecting means for connecting a plurality of adjacent links at their ends. In a cable guide chain that accommodates and is provided so as to be bendable in one axis direction, at least the links are elastomers, or a combination of elastomer links and hard material links is used.