JP2003187941A - Rotary connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotary connector that does not generate sliding noises even if there happens an error in the assembly of the movable member and the fixed member or there happens a deformation such as warping at a part of the movable member and the fixed member. <P>SOLUTION: The rotary connector comprises a fixed member 2 that has an outer cylinder part 2b and a bottom plate part 2a, a movable member 1 that has an inner cylinder part 1a, a top plate part 1b, and a brim part 4a and installed on the fixed member 2 free to turn, and a flat cable 6 that is wound in the space 3 partitioned by the inner cylinder part 1a and the outer cylinder part 2b and fixed to the fixed member 2 and the movable member 1 by its both ends. A solid lubricating layer 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b is provided respectively at a mutually facing face of the sliding part of at least one of the sliding part between the top plate part 1b and the outer cylinder part 2b and the sliding part between the bottom plate part 2a and the brim part 4a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary connector, and more particularly to a rotary connector having a structure for preventing generation of sliding noise at a sliding portion between a movable member and a fixed member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, while forming an annular space between a fixed member having an outer tubular portion and a movable member having an inner tubular portion,
There is a rotary connector in which a movable member and a fixed member are rotatably fitted, and a flat cable having one end fixed to the fixed member and the other end fixed to the movable member is wound in an annular space portion thereof. When the fixed member of the rotary connector rotates, a sliding noise is generated at the sliding portion between the fixed member and the movable member. Therefore, in order to suppress the sliding noise, a lubricating paste is applied to the sliding portion between the movable member and the fixed member. There is a rotary connector formed with a lubricating layer.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional rotary connector, when the sliding portion clearance between the movable member and the fixed member is small, an error may occur in the assembly of the movable member and the fixed member. Alternatively, a part of the movable member or the fixed member (particularly, the top plate portion or the bottom plate portion) is deformed such as a warp, so that a part of the movable member and a part of the fixed member become large during the rotation of the movable member. There is a problem that the contact is caused by the contact pressure, the lubricating layer is removed at the sliding portion, and the movable member and the fixed member are brought into direct contact with each other to slide and a sliding noise is easily generated.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to produce no sliding noise even if an error occurs in the assembly of the movable member and the fixed member, or if the movable member or the fixed member is partially deformed such as a warp. To provide a rotary connector.

[0005]

A rotary connector of the present invention has a fixing member having an outer cylinder portion and a bottom plate portion, an inner cylinder portion, a top plate portion and a flange portion, and is rotatably mounted on the fixing member. And a flat cable wound around a space defined by the inner tubular portion and the outer tubular portion and having both ends fixed to the fixed member and the movable member. A configuration in which a solid lubricating layer is provided on each of the facing portions of at least one of the sliding portions among the sliding portion between the tubular portion and the sliding portion between the bottom plate portion and the flange portion, did. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector.

Further, the solid lubricating layer contains a fluororesin material. With this configuration, since the fluororesin material is included, the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector can be reduced.

The solid lubricating layer is formed by dispersing fine powder of a fluororesin material in a solvent, applying or dipping the powder, and then volatilizing the solvent. With this configuration, since the fine powder of the fluororesin material is used, the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector can be reduced.

The fluororesin material is PTFE,
The configuration is at least one of PFA and FEP. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector.

The solid lubricating layers facing each other of the sliding portion are rubbed with each other to make the surface smooth. With this configuration, since the surface is made smooth, the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector can be reduced.

The thickness of the solid lubricating layer is 0.1 μm.
To 2 μm. With this configuration, since the thickness of the solid lubricating layer is appropriate, the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector can be made extremely small.

Further, a paste-like lubricating layer is provided between the opposed solid lubricating layers of the sliding portion. With this configuration, the solid lubricating layers rarely come into direct contact with each other, sticking between the solid lubricating layers is unlikely to occur, and sliding noise due to rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector can be made extremely small.

The paste-like lubricating layer contains perfluoropolyether. With this configuration, since the material used is different between the solid lubricating layer and the paste-like lubricating layer, there is no sticking when the same material is used, and the sliding noise due to the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector can be made extremely small.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a rotary connector of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of a rotary connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of FIG. 1 and an A portion, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of FIG. 1 and a B portion.

The movable member 1 is made of an insulating resin, has an inner cylindrical portion 1a provided at the center thereof, and an annular top plate portion 1b is integrally formed on the upper end of the inner cylindrical portion 1a toward the outer side in the radial direction. Has been done. An annular recess 1c is provided on the lower surface of the top plate 1b at the outer peripheral edge of the top plate 1b. The movable member 1 is rotationally driven by the steering wheel of the vehicle.

The fixing member 2 is made of an insulating resin and has an annular bottom plate portion 2a and an outer cylinder portion 2b connected to the bottom plate portion 2a. The bottom plate portion 2a is raised so that the inner peripheral edge of the bottom plate portion 2a forms a step to form a collar portion 2c. A snap engaging hole 2g extending vertically upward is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the bottom plate portion 2a.
The outer cylinder portion 2b is provided with a snap engagement protrusion 2h, and the snap engagement hole 2g and the snap engagement protrusion 2h are snap-engaged with each other to connect and fix the bottom plate portion 2a and the outer cylinder portion 2b. There is.

An annular projection 2i is formed on the upper end of the outer cylinder 2b. The annular projection 2i of the fixed member 2 forms a sliding portion with the annular recess 1c of the movable member 1, and the annular recess 1c of the movable member 1 is located above the projection 2i at the upper end of the outer tubular portion 2b. It slides to guide the movable member 1 in the radial direction. The annular protrusion 2i of the fixed member 2 forming the sliding portion and the movable member 1
The solid lubricating layers 7a and 7b made of PTFE (tetrafluoroethylene resin) are formed on the surface of the annular concave portion 1c of 0.1 .mu.m.
It is formed with a thickness of 2.0 μm. Solid lubricating layer 7a,
A paste-like lubricating layer 7c containing perfluoropolyether is sandwiched between 7b. Solid lubrication layers 7a, 7b
By interposing the paste-like lubrication layer 7c between the solid lubrication layers 7a and 7b, it is possible to prevent the surfaces of the solid lubrication layers from easily physically adhering to each other and to exhibit good solid lubrication of the solid lubrication layers 7a and 7b. . Further, by making the material of the solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b different from a part of the material of the paste-like lubricating layer, physical contact between the surfaces of the solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b can be almost completely prevented. It is possible to reliably prevent the generation of sliding noise. The solid lubricating layers 7a and 7c and the paste-like lubricating layer 7c form an annular recess 1c of the movable member 1.
Slides smoothly on the protrusion 2i at the upper end of the outer cylinder 2b, and almost no sliding noise is generated. The fixed member 2 and the movable member 1 form an annular space portion 3 therebetween.

The rotor snap 4 is made of an insulating resin and has an upper cylindrical portion 4b fixed to the movable member 1, a lower cylindrical portion 4c extending downward from the upper cylindrical portion 4b, an upper cylindrical portion 4b and a lower cylindrical portion 4c. It is composed of a collar portion 4a extending from the boundary to the outer peripheral side, and is integrally formed by molding resin molding. A sliding portion 2d is provided between the lower surface side of the collar portion 2c of the bottom plate portion 2a and the upper surface side of the collar portion 4a of the rotor snap 4, and the collar portion 4a slides rotatably. Solid lubricant layers 8a and 8c made of PTFE (tetrafluoroethylene resin) are provided on the lower surface of the collar portion 2c and the upper surface of the collar portion 4a which constitute the sliding portion 2d in an amount of 0.1 μm to 0.1 μm.
It is formed with a thickness of 2.0 μm. Solid lubricating layer 8a,
A paste-like lubricating layer 8c containing perfluoropolyether is sandwiched between 8c. These solid lubricating layers 8
The flange portions 4a of the rotor snap 4 smoothly slide on the flange portions 2c of the bottom plate portion 2a by the a and 8c and the paste-like lubricating layer 8c, and sliding noise is hardly generated. The rotor snap 4 is provided between the movable member 1 and the collar member 2 on the inner peripheral side of the fixed member 2.
By sandwiching c, the fixed member 2 and the movable member 1 are rotatably connected.

The guide member 5 is made of an insulating resin and has an annular shape, and an inner diameter side guide portion 5a and an outer diameter side guide portion 5b are formed on an annular plate 5c. A spring-like portion 5d is formed on the annular plate 5c and functions to lift the outer peripheral side of the annular plate 5c from the bottom plate portion 2a. The guide member 5 is rotatable with respect to both the movable member 1 and the fixed member 2, and is configured to rotate at a rotational speed lower than that of the movable member 1.

The flat cable 6 has a plurality of conductor strips sandwiched between two strip-shaped insulating sheets. The flat cable 6 is wound and arranged in an annular space 3 between the movable member 1 and the fixed member 2, one end of which is fixed to the fixed member 1 and the other end of which is fixed to the movable member 2. The wound flat cable 6 is guided to the inner diameter side by the inner diameter side guide portion 5a of the guide member 5, and the outer diameter side flat cable 6 is guided by the outer diameter side guide portion 5b.
Is guided to the outer diameter side. The rotary connector according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above.

In the above-described embodiment of the rotary connector of the present invention, the pasty lubricating layers 7c, 8c are sandwiched between the solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, but the present invention is not limited to this. Without the paste-like lubricating layer. Further, in the above-described embodiment of the rotary connector of the present invention, PTFE (tetrafluoroethylene resin) is used as the solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, but the present invention is not limited to this. As the material of the solid lubricating layer, PFA (perfluoroalkoxy resin) or FEP (ethylene propylene fluoride resin) may be used, or plural materials of PTFE, PFA and FEP may be mixed and used. .

Next, the solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b, 8a, 8c
The method for forming the paste-like lubricating layer 7c will be described. The surface of the annular projection 2i of the fixed member 2 and the annular recess 1c of the movable member 1 forming the sliding portion, or the flange 2c of the fixed member 2 is formed. On the lower surface and the upper surface of the collar 4a of the movable member 1, fine particles of PTFE (tetrafluoroethylene resin) are spray-coated with a solvent dispersed therein, and the solvent is volatilized to form a coating film. In this state, when the movable member 1 is slid on the fixed member 2 and rotated a predetermined number of times while sliding, the fine particles of the fluororesin are crushed by the heat of sliding, and adjacent fine particles are welded to each other. Welding is spread over the entire sliding surface to form a smooth solid lubricating layer. When the thickness of the solid lubricant is less than 0.1 μm, an extremely thin portion is apt to occur in a part of the solid lubricating layer, smoothness is lost, and a portion having insufficient lubrication characteristics is generated. On the other hand, when the film thickness exceeds 2 μm, waviness occurs on the surface of the solid lubricating layer, the flatness is impaired, and the lubricating characteristics during sliding may deteriorate. Therefore, the thickness of the solid lubricating layer is from 0.1 μm to
The film thickness is preferably 2 μm. After this, a paste-like lubricating layer containing perfluoropolyether is inserted between the opposed solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b and 8a, 8c. As described above, the solid lubricating layers 7a, 7b, 8a, 8c and the pasty lubricating layer 7c are formed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the spray coating method is described as an example of the method for forming the solid lubricating layer. However, other coating methods may be used, and the solid lubricating layer may be formed by dipping or the like.

[0023]

As described above, the rotary connector of the present invention has the fixing member having the outer cylinder portion and the bottom plate portion, the inner cylinder portion, the top plate portion and the flange portion, and is rotatable with respect to the fixing member. A top plate part and an outer cylinder part, each of which is equipped with a movable member attached thereto, a fixed member wound around a space defined by an inner cylinder part and an outer cylinder part, and a flat cable having both ends fixed to the movable member. A solid lubricating layer was provided on each of the surfaces of the sliding portion between and the bottom plate portion and the flange portion that face each other of at least one of the sliding portions.

With this structure, it is possible to reduce the sliding noise caused by the rotation of the movable member of the rotary connector.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 shows the present invention, FIG. 2 shows FIG. 1 and an enlarged view of part A, and FIG.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of an embodiment of a rotary connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 movable member 1a Inner tube part 1b Top plate part 2 fixing members 2a Bottom plate part 2b Outer cylinder part 3 space 4 rotor snap 4a collar part 5 Guide member 6 flat cable 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b Solid lubricating layer 7c, 8c Paste-like lubrication layer

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A fixing member having an outer cylinder portion and a bottom plate portion, a movable member having an inner cylinder portion, a top plate portion and a flange portion rotatably mounted on the fixing member, and the inner cylinder portion. A flat cable having both ends fixed to the fixed member and the movable member, the flat cable being wound around a space defined by an outer cylinder, and the sliding portion between the top plate and the outer cylinder and the flat cable. A rotary connector, wherein a solid lubricating layer is provided on each of the facing surfaces of at least one of the sliding parts among the sliding parts between the bottom plate part and the flange part. 2. The rotary connector according to claim 1, wherein the solid lubricating layer contains a fluororesin material. 3. The rotary connector according to claim 1, wherein the solid lubricating layer is formed by dispersing fine powder of a fluororesin material in a solvent, applying or immersing the powder, and then volatilizing the solvent. 4. The fluororesin material is PTFE or PF.
The rotary connector according to claim 1, wherein the rotary connector is at least one of A and FEP. 5. The rotary connector according to claim 2, wherein the solid lubricating layers of the sliding portion facing each other are slid on each other to have a smooth surface. 6. The rotary connector according to claim 1, wherein the solid lubricating layer has a thickness of 0.1 μm to 2 μm. 7. The rotary connector according to claim 1, wherein a paste-like lubricating layer is provided between the solid lubricating layers facing each other of the sliding portion. 8. The rotary connector according to claim 7, wherein the paste-like lubricating layer contains perfluoropolyether.