JP2004178861A - Rotating connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotating connector capable of surely holding a rotor member in a rotating neutral position when a lock member is mounted and simply conducting the removing work of the lock member. <P>SOLUTION: A crotch-shaped engaging part 4b; a rotation regulating part 4c projecting downward continuing to the engaging part 4b; a thin extending arm (an elastic deformation part) 4d extending in the direction opposite to the engaging part 4b from a rotation regulating part 4c; and a knob part 4e continuing to the rear end of the extending arm 4 are formed in the lock member 4 unitedly molded with synthetic resin with high flexibility. A pair of stopper projections 6a is formed in an outer cylinder wall 6 of a stator member 1 of the rotating connector in the circumferential direction at specified intervals, a slot-shaped holding part 7a is formed in a top plate 7 of the rotor member 2, the engaging part 4b of the lock member 4 is inserted from the diameter direction and locked in the holding part 7a, and the free rotation of the rotor member 2 to the stator member 1 is obstructed with the lock member 4 by positioning the rotation regulating part 4c between both stopper projections 6a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotary connector mounted on a steering device of an automobile and used as an electrical connection means such as an airbag circuit, and more particularly to a rotary connector for holding a rotor member of the rotary connector at a rotation neutral position until mounted on a steering device. Related to the lock mechanism.
[0002]
[Prior art]
This type of rotary connector includes a stator member attached to an installation member (for example, an outer case of a combination switch) of a steering device, a rotor member connected to a handle side and integrally rotatable, and a stator member and a rotor. And a flexible cable wound around an annular storage space defined between the members.When the rotor member rotates relative to the stator member in conjunction with the handle, the rotation direction varies depending on the rotation direction. The flexible cable is wound or unwound in the annular space, so that the electrical connection between the rotor member and the stator member is maintained via the flexible cable in either state. In this case, the rotor member must be able to rotate by approximately the same amount in both the forward and reverse directions with respect to the rotation neutral position of the steering wheel. Requires a lock mechanism for holding the motor at the rotation neutral position.
[0003]
Conventionally, various types of such lock mechanisms have been proposed, but a stator member having an outer cylinder wall provided on an outer peripheral portion of a bottom plate and a rotor member having an inner cylinder wall provided at the center of a top plate are formed in an annular shape. In the rotary connector rotatably connected via the storage space of the above, by locking the lock member to the slot-shaped holding wall provided on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylinder wall and the projection erected on the top plate, A device that prevents free rotation of a rotor member with respect to a stator member has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
In this product, a fixed portion and an arm portion are integrally formed in a L-shape through a notch-shaped thin portion on a synthetic resin lock member, and are formed in the fixed portion until the rotary connector is assembled to the steering device. The free rotation of the rotor member is prevented by the lock member by inserting and locking the snap claw to the holding wall and fitting the engagement hole formed in the arm portion to the projection. Also, when assembling the rotary connector to the steering device, if the finger hook formed at the tip of the arm is lifted with the thin portion as a fulcrum by the leverage principle, the arm and the remaining fixed portion are separated by the thin portion. . As a result, the remaining fixed portion remains on the stator member while being locked by the holding wall, but the arm portion including the finger hook portion is removed from the rotor member, and the locked state by the lock member is released, so that the rotor member is rotatable. be able to.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-97141 (page 3-4, FIG. 1)
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional rotary connector with a locking mechanism, even if the arm portion including the finger hook portion of the lock member is removed from the rotor member to release the locked state, a part of the lock member (the remaining fixed portion) remains in the stator member. The stationary member and the stator member may generate an unusual noise due to vibration during driving of the vehicle or the like. In addition, the lock member may be locked in the narrow space of the top plate of the rotor member. Since the lock must be released by lifting the finger hook, there is a problem that the operation of removing the lock member from the rotary connector is troublesome.
[0007]
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of stopper projections 10a are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical wall of the stator member 10, and a slot-shaped holding wall 11a is formed on the top plate of the rotor member 11. A lock mechanism in which the lock member 12 is inserted into and locked to the side of the lock member 11a so that the rotation restricting portion 12a hanging from the lock member 12 is positioned between the two stopper protrusions 10a is conceivable.
[0008]
According to the rotary connector having such a lock mechanism, when the lock member 12 is mounted on the holding wall 11a, the movement of the rotation restricting portion 12a is restricted by the two stopper protrusions 10a, so that the rotor member 11 is free. Rotation can be prevented by the lock member 12, and when assembling the rotary connector to the steering device, the finger is hung on the knob 12b and the lock member 12 is pulled out from the holding wall 11a. The member 11 can be freely rotated. Therefore, there is an advantage that the lock member 12 can be completely removed from the rotary connector at the time of unlocking to prevent generation of abnormal noise, and that the lock member 12 can be easily removed by using a wide space beside the rotary connector. But this is not without its problems.
[0009]
That is, when an external force in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 4 is applied to the knob 12b at the tip of the lock member 12 during transportation of the rotary connector or the like, the external force is applied from the lock member 12 to the top plate of the rotor member 11 via the holding wall 11a. , The outer peripheral edge of the top plate of the rotor member 11 rises from the upper end of the outer cylinder wall of the stator member 10. As a result, when a rotational force is applied to the rotor member 11 in this state, the rotation restricting portion 12a of the lock member 12 locked on the holding wall 11a rides over both the stopper protrusions 10a, and the rotor member 11 rotates neutral. A problem that the position is deviated occurs.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of such a situation of the related art, and an object of the present invention is to ensure that a rotor member can be held at a rotation neutral position when a lock member is mounted, and that the lock member is removed. An object of the present invention is to provide a rotary connector that can easily perform an operation.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, in the rotary connector of the present invention, a stator member having an outer cylinder wall provided on an outer peripheral portion of a bottom plate is rotatably connected to the stator member via an annular storage space, and A rotor member provided with an inner cylinder wall at the center of the plate, a flexible cable wound inside the storage space, and a detachably locked to a holding portion provided on the top plate; A lock member that prevents free rotation of the rotor member with respect to the stator member by being restricted from rotating between a pair of stopper protrusions provided at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction on the cylindrical wall; An engagement portion which is detachably attached to the holding portion in a radial direction with respect to the holding portion; a rotation regulating portion which can abut on the stopper projection continuously from the engagement portion; Extension arm extending in the opposite direction to An elastic deformation that has a continuous knob on the distal end side of the extending arm and is deformable in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the extending arm between the knob and the rotation restricting portion of the extending arm. Part was formed.
[0012]
According to the rotary connector configured as described above, when assembling the rotary connector to the steering device, not only can the lock member be easily removed by using a wide space beside the rotary connector, but also the rotary connector can be easily removed. Even if an external force in the upward direction of the top plate is applied to the knob of the lock member during transportation of the lock member, the external force is absorbed by the deformation of the elastically deformable portion of the lock member, and the rotation restricting portion and the engagement therebefore. Therefore, the rotor member can be reliably held at the rotation neutral position by the lock member.
[0013]
In the above configuration, it is preferable that the lock member is integrally formed of a flexible synthetic resin such as PP (polypropylene). In this case, the elastically deformed portion is made thinner than other portions of the extension arm. It may be formed. At this time, it is more preferable to form a window hole in the elastically deformable portion because the elastically deformable portion is deformed by a light force.
[0014]
Further, in the above configuration, it is also possible to use a synthetic resin material for the portion of the lock member other than the elastically deformable portion, and to integrate the elastically deformable portion made of an elastic metal plate with this synthetic resin material by outsert. Since the synthetic resin material is not required to have flexibility, the selection range of materials usable as the synthetic resin can be expanded.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rotary connector and a lock member according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the lock member is mounted on the rotary connector. is there.
[0016]
As shown in these drawings, the rotary connector according to the present embodiment includes a stator member 1 as a fixed housing, a rotor member 2 as a movable housing rotatably connected to the stator member 1, and It is roughly constituted by a flexible cable 3 housed and wound inside a stator member 1 and a rotor member 2, and a lock member 4 is detachably attached to such a rotary connector.
[0017]
The stator member 1 made of synthetic resin has a bottom plate 5 having a circular hole 5a at the center, and an outer cylinder wall 6 erected on the outer peripheral portion of the bottom plate 5. A pair of stopper projections 6a are formed at predetermined intervals in the direction. The rotor member 2 made of synthetic resin has a ring-shaped top plate 7 for closing the upper open end of the stator member 1 and an inner cylindrical wall 8 hanging from an inner peripheral edge of the top plate 7. Is formed with a slot-shaped holding portion 7a. The lower end of the inner cylindrical wall 8 is snap-coupled to the circular hole 5a of the bottom plate 5, whereby the rotor member 2 is rotatably connected to the stator member 1 around the circular hole 5a.
[0018]
An annular storage space 9 is defined by the bottom plate 5 and the outer cylinder wall 6 of the stator member 1 and the top plate 7 and the inner cylinder wall 8 of the rotor member 2, and the flexible cable 3 is provided inside the storage space 9. Are spirally wound, for example. Both ends of the flexible cable 3 are fixed to the stator member 1 and the rotor member 2, respectively, and then led out through a connector or the like (not shown). Note that the flexible cable 3 may be reversed and wound around the inside of the storage space 9 in such a case. In this case, the moving body that moves inside the storage space 9 following the inverted portion of the flexible cable 3 Is preferably stored.
[0019]
The lock member 4 includes a bifurcated engagement portion 4b having a snap claw 4a at a tip, a rotation restricting portion 4c that protrudes downward continuously from the engagement portion 4b, and an engagement portion 4b extending from the rotation restriction portion 4c. Arm 4d extending in a direction opposite to the above, and a ring-shaped knob 4e continuous with the rear end of the extending arm 4d, and these have flexibility (flexibility) such as PP (polypropylene). It is integrally molded with rich synthetic resin. The extension arm 4d functions as an elastically deformable portion. The extension arm 4d is formed to be thinner than other portions such as the engagement portion 4b and the rotation restricting portion 4c, and is flexible. A vertically long window hole 4f is formed in the extension arm 4d in order to increase the number of holes. In the present embodiment, the extension arm 4d is formed to be thin as a whole to be an elastic deformation portion. However, the extension arm 4d may be formed to be partially thin to make the portion an elastic deformation portion. The window hole 4f may be omitted if sufficient elasticity is obtained in the elastically deformable portion.
[0020]
The rotary connector configured as described above is mounted on the steering wheel side by attaching the stator member 1 to the installation member of the steering device (for example, the outer case of the combination switch) and attaching the rotor member 2 to the steering wheel side. It is used as electrical connection means such as airbag inflators and horn switches. When assembling such a rotary connector, the rotor member 2 must be able to rotate by approximately the same amount in both the forward and reverse directions with respect to the rotation neutral position of the handle. After the rotor member 2 is positioned at the rotation neutral position, the lock member 4 is attached to the rotary connector to prevent the rotor member 2 from rotating freely.
[0021]
That is, after the rotor member 2 is positioned at the rotation neutral position with respect to the stator member 1, when the two engaging portions 4b of the lock member 4 are inserted into the holding portions 7a of the rotor member 2, the two engaging portions 4b are When the lock member 4 is further pushed in by being bent into the holding portion 7a, the engaging portions 4b return to the original state, and the snap claws 4a are snap-locked to the open ends of the holding portion 7a. As a result, both the engaging portions 4b of the lock member 4 are locked by the holding portions 7a of the rotor member 2, and the rotation restricting portions 4c of the lock member 4 are inserted between the two stopper projections 6a of the stator member 1, and the rotation is performed. The rotation of the rotor member 2 is prevented by the restricting portion 4c abutting on both stopper protrusions 6a. Therefore, the rotor member 2 does not rotate unnecessarily with respect to the stator member 1 during transportation of the rotary connector or the like, and can be maintained as it is until it is assembled to the steering device.
[0022]
Here, when an external force in the upward direction (the direction of the arrow F in FIG. 2) is applied to the knob 4e of the lock member 4 while the rotary connector is being conveyed or the like, the external force is generated by the extension arm 4d, which is an elastically deformable portion. It is absorbed by being deformed in the direction of the dashed line 2, and no external force reaches the rotation restricting portion 4c and the engaging portion 4b therebelow. For this reason, the outer peripheral edge of the top plate 7 does not rise from the upper end of the outer cylinder wall 6 due to an external force, and the rotation restricting portion 4c of the lock member 4 is maintained between the two stopper protrusions 6a. In this way, it is possible to reliably prevent a problem that the vehicle is deviated from the rotation neutral position.
[0023]
Also, after the rotary connector is assembled to the steering device, when the lock member 4 is pulled by hanging a finger or a jig on the knob 4e, the two engaging portions 4b are bent inward, and the snap claws 4a are opened at the opening end of the holding portion 7a. When the lock member 4 is further pulled, the engagement portions 4b are pulled out of the holding portion 7a, and the lock member 4 is removed from the rotary connector. As a result, the locked state of the rotor member 2 by the lock member 4 is released, and the rotor member 2 can be rotated in conjunction with the handle. At this time, since the removing operation of the lock member 4 is performed using a wide space beside the rotary connector, the lock member 4 can be easily removed without being disturbed by the installation member or the steering wheel of the steering device. .
[0024]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modification of the lock member 4, and portions corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals.
[0025]
The lock member 4 shown in FIG. 3 is different from that of the embodiment described above in that the extension arm 4g functioning as an elastic deformation portion is formed of an elastic metal plate such as stainless steel or phosphor bronze. Is integrated with other portions made of a synthetic resin material (the engaging portion 4b, the rotation restricting portion 4c, the knob 4e, etc.) by outsert, and the configuration of the rotary connector and the function of each portion of the lock member 4 are basically Are the same. In this case, a material having high flexibility such as PP may be used as the synthetic resin material of the lock member 4 as in the above-described embodiment, but PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) or POM (polyoxymethylene) It is also possible to use a synthetic resin material having high rigidity such as.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention is implemented in the form described above, and has the following effects.
[0027]
When assembling the rotary connector to the steering device, not only can the lock member be easily removed by using the wide space on the side of the rotary connector, but also the top of the lock member can be removed while the rotary connector is being conveyed. Even if an external force in the upward direction is applied, the external force is absorbed by the deformation of the elastically deforming portion of the lock member, and does not reach the rotation restricting portion or the engaging portion, so that the rotor member is locked by the lock member. It can be reliably held at the rotation neutral position.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rotary connector and a lock member according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where the lock member is mounted on a rotary connector.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a modification of the lock member.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a rotary connector with a lock mechanism according to a conventional proposal.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stator member 2 Rotor member 3 Flexible cable 4 Lock member 4a Snap claw 4b Engagement part 4c Rotation restriction part 4d, 4g Extension arm 4e Knob part 4f Window hole 5 Bottom plate 6 Outer cylinder wall 6a Stopper projection 7 Top plate 7a Holder 8 Inner cylinder wall 9 Storage space

Claims (4)

A stator member having an outer cylindrical wall provided on an outer peripheral portion of the bottom plate, a rotor member rotatably connected to the stator member via an annular storage space, and an inner cylindrical wall provided at the center of the top plate; A flexible cable wound inside the storage space, and a pair of cables that are detachably engaged with a holding portion provided on the top plate and that are provided on the outer cylinder wall at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction. A lock member that prevents free rotation of the rotor member with respect to the stator member by being restricted between the stopper projections.
An engagement portion that allows the lock member to be attached to and detached from the holding portion in a radial direction, a rotation restriction portion that can contact the stopper projection continuously with the engagement portion; An extension arm extending in a direction opposite to the joint portion, and a knob portion that is continuous with a tip side of the extension arm, wherein the extension arm is provided between the knob portion of the extension arm and the rotation restricting portion. A rotary connector having an elastically deformable portion that can be deformed in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the rotary connector extends. The lock member according to claim 1, wherein the lock member is integrally formed of a synthetic resin having flexibility, and the elastic deformation portion is formed to be thinner than other portions of the extension arm. Rotating connector. 3. The rotary connector according to claim 2, wherein a window hole is formed in the elastic deformation portion. 3. The lock member according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the lock member other than the elastic deformation portion is made of a synthetic resin material, and the elastic deformation portion made of an elastic metal plate is integrated with the synthetic resin material by outsert. Rotating connector.

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