JP2006049629A - Contactless connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contactless connector connectable to various positions of an apparatus for bringing commonality between a bearing of the apparatus around a rotary shaft and a bearing in the contactless connector, and contactlessly transmitting/receiving data of multi-channels. <P>SOLUTION: The contactless connector comprises rotor side optical elements arranged on a rotor for rotating around the rotary shaft; and stator side optical elements arranged on a stator at positions opposed to the rotor side optical elements, and contactlessly transmitting/receiving data between the rotor side optical elements and the stator side optical elements. In the connector, the rotor is formed cylindrically by using the rotary shaft for a center shaft and includes therein a hollow part, and a plurality of the rotor side optical elements are arranged on the side face of the rotor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact connector that performs non-contact transmission / reception of data. Specifically, it is a non-contact connector that transmits and receives data in a non-contact manner between optical elements provided on both a cylindrical rotating body and a fixed body, and is a non-contact connector having a hollow portion in a cylindrical rotating body. About.

  Conventionally, various signal processing has been performed by connecting a wire directly between the rotating side and the fixed side and transmitting, for example, a video signal from a camera attached to the rotating side to the fixed side. In many cases, a connector for connection is provided to connect the rotating side and the fixed side. However, recently, with the progress of wireless technology for wiring, it has become possible to transmit and receive data without directly connecting the wiring by infrared communication or the like. For this reason, a non-contact connector can be configured on the rotating side and the fixed side without any confusion in wiring. In addition, data transmission / reception is usually performed between the rotating side and the fixed side in a non-contact manner using an optical coupler in which a light emitter and a light receiver are combined.

However, when wirelessly transmitting data from the rotation side to the fixed side, there is a problem that it is difficult to supply power by non-contact from the fixed side to the rotation side. For this reason, conventionally, a light emitting element is provided on the upper part of the disk-shaped rotating body, and a light receiving element is provided at a position corresponding to the light emitting element on the fixed side, and data is transmitted and received from the rotating side to the fixed side by optical communication. Rotation transformer windings are provided on both fixed sides to supply power without contact (for example, Patent Document 1 below).
JP 2002-75760 A

  However, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-75760, there is a holding plate (see FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-75760) at the upper part of the rotating body. was there. That is, if a non-contact connector is provided for a main body device having a cylindrical portion, it can be connected only to the end of the cylindrical portion because of the holding plate, for example, a non-contact connector is provided near the center of the cylindrical portion. I could not.

  In addition, due to the increase in the amount of data handled in recent years, it is desired to send and receive data in a contactless manner using multiple channels. However, when the light emitting element is provided on the upper part of the disk of the rotator, the number of elements is limited, and the amount of data handled is limited. Further, when the number of elements is increased, there is a problem of interference between channels between adjacent elements.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact connector that can be connected to various positions of the main unit.

  Another object of the present invention is not only to share the bearing of the main body device around the rotation axis and the bearing in the non-contact connector, but also to integrate the bearing of the non-contact connector and the optical element. It is in.

  Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact connector that transmits and receives multi-channel data without contact.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotating side optical element disposed on a rotating body that rotates around a rotation axis, and a fixed side optical element disposed on the fixed body at a position facing the rotating side optical element. A non-contact connector configured to transmit and receive data in a non-contact manner between the rotation-side optical element and the fixed-side optical element, and the rotating body is formed in a cylindrical shape with the rotation axis as a central axis and A hollow portion is provided in the cylinder, and a plurality of rotation side optical elements are arranged on the side surface of the rotation body. Thereby, for example, this non-contact connector can be connected at any position of the cylindrical main body, and multi-channel data can be transmitted and received in a non-contact manner.

  In the non-contact connector according to the present invention, a plurality of the rotation side optical elements are arranged on a side surface of the rotating body in a plurality of stages. As a result, for example, it is possible to transmit / receive more channels of data.

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that, in the non-contact connector, the fixed side optical element is disposed on a side surface of the fixed body so as to face the rotating side optical element. Thereby, for example, when the rotating body moves to a position facing the fixed side optical element by rotation of the rotating body, data can be transmitted and received between the fixed side optical element and the rotating side optical element in a non-contact manner.

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that, in the non-contact connector, the rotation side light element is a mixture of a rotation side light receiving element and a rotation side light emitting element. Thereby, for example, the rotating body can perform bidirectional transmission / reception of data with the stationary body in a non-contact manner.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the non-contact connector, wherein the fixed-side light element rotates with the rotation-side light-receiving element when the rotation-side light-receiving element and the rotation-side light-emitting element are mixed and disposed along the outer periphery of the rotating body. The fixed-side light-emitting element and the fixed-side light-receiving element are arranged at a position facing the side light-emitting element. Thereby, for example, bidirectional data transmission / reception can be performed in a non-contact manner on both the rotating body and the stationary body.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the contactless connector, wherein the rotation-side light element has a rotation-side light-emitting element arranged at a stage different from the arbitrary stage when the rotation-side light-receiving element is arranged at an arbitrary stage of the rotating body. It is characterized by. Thereby, for example, bidirectional data transmission / reception can be performed in a non-contact manner between the rotating body and the fixed body, and data transmission / reception of more channels can be performed.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the above non-contact connector, wherein the fixed side light element has a fixed side light emitting element disposed at a position facing the rotation side light receiving element disposed at the arbitrary stage, and is different from the arbitrary stage. The fixed-side light-receiving element is arranged at a position facing the rotation-side light-emitting element arranged in (1). Thereby, for example, bidirectional data transmission / reception can be performed between the rotating body and the fixed body.

  Further, the present invention provides the non-contact connector in which the data output from the fixed-side optical element is input, the rotation-side optical element from which the data is input is identified, and the identified rotation It further has switching means for switching the output of the data so as to correspond to the side light element. Thereby, for example, it is possible to output from a fixed body to a channel corresponding to the input channel.

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the non-contact connector further includes a transformer winding in each of the rotating body and the fixed body. Thereby, for example, a rotary transformer for supplying electric power from the fixed body to the rotary body in a non-contact manner can be configured.

  Furthermore, in the non-contact connector according to the present invention, a bearing is provided between the rotating body and the fixed body, and the bearing is shared with the bearing of the main body side device and the bearing of the non-contact connector. Thereby, for example, the bearing can be shared with the bearing of the main body device, and the non-contact connector can be miniaturized.

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that in the above non-contact connector, a bearing is provided between the rotating body and the fixed body, and the bearing, the fixed side optical element, and the rotating side optical element have an integral structure. Thereby, for example, the bearing and the optical element can be integrated, and the mechanical functional element called the bearing and the optical communication functional element called the optical element can be integrated, so that the main body apparatus can be simplified and reduced in size and weight. Further, in a direct sense, it is possible to prevent the data from being transmitted / received by the optical element due to the shaft shake caused by the rotation of the rotating body.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the above contactless connector, wherein both the rotating body and the fixed body are provided with perforations, and each of the perforations is provided with a rotation side optical element and a fixed side optical element. Are arranged so as to face each other. Thereby, for example, the optical element can be arranged without hindering the rotation operation of the rotating body, and the size of the non-contact connector in the radial direction can be reduced, and the non-contact connector can be downsized. .

  Further, according to the present invention, in the above non-contact connector, a notch is provided in both the rotating body and the fixed body, and a rotating side optical element and a fixed side optical element are provided in the notch, respectively. It is characterized by being arranged so as to face each other. Thereby, for example, the optical element can be arranged without hindering the rotation operation of the rotating body, and the size of the non-contact connector in the radial direction can be reduced, and the non-contact connector can be downsized. .

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that in the above non-contact connector, the rotating side optical element and the stationary side optical element are arranged so as to face each other on a disk surface perpendicular to the rotating axis of the rotating body and the stationary body, respectively. Yes. Thereby, for example, the optical element can be arranged without hindering the rotating operation of the rotating body, and the degree of freedom of the arrangement can be increased.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the above non-contact connector, wherein the fixed body is formed in a cylindrical shape in a direction parallel to the rotation axis, and the rotation body is positioned on the rotation axis up to a position where the rotation side optical element and the fixed side optical element face each other. On the other hand, data is transmitted and received in a non-contact manner with the fixed body after being translated. Thus, for example, when the assembly of the non-contact connector is completed after the rotating body is inserted into the fixed body, there is no interruption even if data is transmitted / received by the optical element, so that a connector with no connection error can be obtained. it can.

  Since the non-contact connector according to the present invention has a hollow portion at the center of the rotating body, it can be connected to various positions of the main body device. In addition, if the bearing of the non-contact connector is a bearing of the main body device, the bearing of the main body device and the bearing of the non-contact connector can be shared. Furthermore, since the optical element that transmits and receives data is provided in the bearing, the bearing and the optical element can be integrated. Furthermore, since a plurality of optical elements are provided on the side wall and the disk surface of the rotating body and the fixed body formed in a cylindrical shape, it is possible to provide a non-contact connector that performs non-contact transmission / reception of data through multiple channels. it can.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a non-contact connector 10 to which the present invention is applied. The non-contact connector 10 is composed of a rotating body 1 and a fixed body 2 as a whole.

  The rotating body 1 is connected to a main body device (not shown) and is configured to rotate around the rotation shaft 4 by rotational driving from the main body device. Therefore, the rotating body 1 is formed in a cylindrical shape. The rotating body 1 has a hollow portion 7 with the rotating shaft 4 as the center. The non-contact connector 10 can attach the rotating body 1 to the rotating shaft of the main body device through the hollow portion 7. By attaching the non-contact connector 10 and the main body device in this way, for example, air or oil from the main body device side can be flowed in the vertical direction through the hollow portion 7 in the drawing.

  The fixed body 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape around the rotating shaft 4, and is provided in a ring shape so as to surround the rotating body 1. Further, a rolling element 31 is provided near the center of the fixed body 2 and the rotating body 1 so that the rotating body 1 can rotate inside the fixed body 2. By this rolling element 31, the rotating body 1 can smoothly rotate inside the fixed body 2. The rolling element 31 is actually a sphere.

  Furthermore, the optical elements 13 and 23 are arranged so as to face the outer wall of the cylinder of the rotating body 1 and the inner wall of the cylinder of the fixed body 2, respectively. Data from the main body device is transmitted from the optical element 13 of the rotating body 1 and can be received by the optical element 23 of the fixed body 2 without contact. The received data is output to an external device connected to the fixed body 2, for example.

  When the non-contact connector 10 is assembled, the rotating body 1 can be inserted into the cylinder of the fixed body 2 in a direction parallel to the rotating shaft 4. Then, the rotating body 1 can be moved to a position where the rotation side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23 face each other. Therefore, even if the rotating body 1 is rotated at this position, non-contact data can be transmitted and received by the optical elements 13 and 23, so that the non-contact connector 10 without connection mistakes can be obtained at the time of assembly.

  FIG. 2 is a view of the non-contact connector 10 according to the present invention as viewed from above. When viewed from above, the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 are formed in a circular shape, and the rotating body 1 is provided on the center side thereof, and the fixed body 2 is provided along the outer periphery thereof. The rotating body 1 is provided with a hollow portion 7 having a certain radial distance from the center of the rotating body 1. Note that optical elements 13 and 23 are provided on the opposing surfaces of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2, and a rolling element 31 is provided between the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2. However, it is not shown for convenience of explanation.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of the non-contact connector 10 according to the present invention, and is a view of the non-contact connector 10 shown in FIG. 2 cut out along the axis A and viewed from the B direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating body 1 of the non-contact connector 10 includes a rotating-side electric circuit unit 11, a rotating-side holding unit 12, a rotating-side optical element 13, a rotating-side transformer winding 14, and a rotating-side transformer core. 15, an inner ring 16, and a hollow portion 7.

  The rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 is attached to the upper part of the disk of the rotating body 1 and performs various data processing. For example, when the main unit is a camera and the rotating body 1 is attached to the camera, the captured image is converted into RGB (red, green, blue) three primary color data and subjected to processing such as compression if necessary. Output to the fixed body 2. The rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 also outputs drive data for light emission of the rotation-side optical element 13.

  The rotation-side holding unit 12 is positioned below the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 and holds the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11.

  The rotation side optical element 13 is located on the outer periphery of the rotation side holding unit 12 and along the outer wall of the rotating body 1. In FIG. 3, two rotation-side optical elements 13 are located on the left and right, but for example, three or more optical elements 13 may be provided along the outer wall of the rotating body 1. In this embodiment, data for one channel can be transmitted by one optical element 13. The rotation-side optical element 13 is connected to the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 and emits light based on drive data from the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11, thereby transmitting data to the fixed-side optical element 23 in a non-contact manner. .

  The rotation-side transformer winding 14 is located below the rotation-side holding unit 12 and is located on the inner peripheral side of the rotating body 1. Electric power from the fixed body 2 is supplied by electromagnetic induction, and electric power to each part of the rotating body 1 can be supplied by the rotating transformer winding 14.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the rotation-side transformer core 15 is formed to have a U-shaped cross section so as to surround the rotation transformer winding 14 and an inner ring 16 described later. The rotation-side transformer core 15 houses a rotation-side transformer winding 14 in its body, and a rotation transformer is formed between the rotation-side transformer core 15 and the fixed body 2 by the action of the winding 14. Note that the rotation-side holding portion 12 described above is a part of the rotation-side transformer core 15.

  The inner ring 16 is provided along the outer periphery of the rotating body 1 and at a position where it comes into contact with the rolling element 31, and smoothes the rotating operation of the rotating body 1. The inner ring 16 is formed from a nonmagnetic material such as a resin material.

  Next, the fixed body 2 will be described. The fixed body 2 includes a fixed-side electric circuit unit 21, a fixed-side holding unit 22, a fixed-side optical element 23, a fixed-side transformer winding 24, a fixed-side transformer core 25, and an outer ring 26.

  The fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 is provided on the upper part of the disk of the fixed body 2. It is connected to the fixed-side optical element 23, processes data from the rotating body 1 received in a non-contact manner, and outputs it to an external device (not shown) connected to the fixed body 2. The fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 includes a multiplexer, which will be described later, and is configured to determine which channel the data received by the fixed-side light receiving element is, and to output each channel to each designated wiring. Has been.

  The fixed-side optical element 23 is provided on the inner wall of the fixed body 2 at a position facing the rotation-side optical element 13. The light from the rotation-side optical element 13 is received, and data is received between the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 in a non-contact manner. The fixed side optical element 23 is also provided on the left and right two in FIG. 3 similarly to the rotation side optical element 13, but three or more elements 23 may be provided along the outer periphery of the fixed body 2. Note that the fixed-side optical element 23 is provided in the fixed body 2 in the same number or more than the rotational-side optical element 13 so that the light from the rotary-side optical element 13 can be continuously received.

  The fixed-side transformer winding 24 is located on the outer peripheral side of the fixed body 2 at a position facing the rotation-side transformer winding 14. Electric power is supplied from an external device connected to the fixed body 2.

  The fixed-side transformer core 25 is formed with a U-shaped cross section so as to surround the fixed-side transformer winding 24 and an outer ring 26 described later. The fixed-side transformer core 25 houses a fixed-side transformer winding 24 in its body, and the winding 24 forms a rotating transformer with the rotating body 1. Note that the fixed-side holding portion 22 described above is a part of the fixed-side transformer core 25.

  The outer ring 26 is provided along the inner wall of the fixed body 2 and at a position in contact with the rolling element 31. Similar to the inner ring 16, the outer ring 26 is also formed of a non-magnetic material such as a resin material.

  As described above, the rolling element 31 is provided between the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2. The rolling element 31 positions the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 and smoothes the rotation of the rotating body 1 on the inner periphery of the fixed body 2. The rolling element 31 is made of a nonmagnetic material such as a steel material or a resin material. A bearing 5 is formed by the rolling element 31, the inner ring 16 of the rotating body 1, and the outer ring 26 of the fixed body 2. As shown in FIG. 3, since this bearing 5 is provided at a position facing both the transformer windings 14 and 24, the width of the non-contact connector 10 (width in the direction of the central axis 4) can be reduced. The contact connector can be downsized. Further, the bearing 5 is constituted by a member independent of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2. If this bearing 5 is the bearing 5 of the main body device connected to the non-contact connector 10, the bearing 5 of the non-contact connector 10 and the bearing 5 of the main body device can be made common. Furthermore, the rotation side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23 may be provided on the bearing 5. That is, this means that the bearing 5 and the optical elements 13 and 23 are integrated, but this enables the integration of the mechanical functional element called the bearing 5 and the optical communication functional element called the optical elements 13 and 23. The main unit can be simplified and reduced in size and weight. Further, in a direct sense, it is also useful to prevent data transmission / reception between the optical elements 13 and 23 from being lost due to axial movement when the rotating body 1 rotates. Specifically, the rotating side optical element 13 is provided on the inner ring 16 side of the rotating body 1 and the fixed side optical element 23 is provided on the outer ring 26 side of the fixing body 2. The hollow portion 7 has a hollow structure at the center of the bearing 5 in order to have an integrated structure with the bearing 5.

  As described above, since the rotating body 1 has the hollow portion 7, the non-contact connector 10 according to the present invention can be connected to any position of the cylindrical main body device along the hollow portion 7. In addition, since the plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 are provided on the outer wall of the rotating body 1 and the inner wall of the fixed body 2, multi-channel data can be transmitted and received without contact. Furthermore, power is supplied by the transformer cores 15 and 25 and the windings 14 and 24 at a position facing the bearing 5, and the holding parts 12 and 22 are shared by the transformer cores 15 and 25, and the electric circuit part 11, 22 is arranged, the non-contact connector 10 can be made small when viewed as a whole, and the connector 10 can be connected to a narrow range of the main unit.

  Next, power supply from the fixed body 2 to the rotating body 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the rotating transformer winding 14 is wound around the body portion of the rotating side transformer core 15 of the rotating body 1, and the fixed side transformer winding is wound around the body portion of the fixed side transformer core 25 of the fixed body 2. A wire 24 is wound. In this state, a magnetic field is generated around the fixed transformer core 25 by supplying a power source current from an external device to the fixed transformer winding 24. When the rotating transformer core 15 is positioned at a position facing the fixed transformer core 25 where the magnetic field is generated by the rotating operation of the rotating body 1, an electric current is generated in the rotating transformer winding 14 wound around the body portion ( So-called electromagnetic induction law). Thereby, electric power is supplied to each part of the rotating body 1, for example, the electric circuit unit 11 is driven, and the rotation side optical element 13 emits light. The fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 of the fixed body 2 is directly supplied with electric power from an external device.

  Next, another embodiment of the non-contact connector 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In any case, the rotating body 1 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the inside thereof is formed as a hollow portion 7, and includes a plurality of optical elements 13.

  First, FIG. 5 shows an example in which the bearing 5 is arranged at a position away from the rotary transformer core 15 and the fixed transformer core 25. That is, the bearing 5 is located at a position separated from the magnetic circuit formed by the transformer windings 14 and 24 and the transformer cores 15 and 25. Also in this case, the inner ring 16 and the outer ring 26 of the bearing 5 are part of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2, respectively, but the member of the bearing 5 does not need to be made of a nonmagnetic material, and is made of a magnetic material such as steel. Can do. This is because it is located away from the magnetic circuit.

  Further, the rotation side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23 are arranged at positions facing each other, and there are a plurality of elements 13 and 23 along the outer circumference and the inner circumference of the rotary body 1 and the fixed body 2, respectively. This is the same as the third example. This is because multi-channel data is transmitted and received without contact. Of course, the rotating side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23 do not need to be positioned below the transformer windings 14 and 24 as shown in FIG. 5, and are opposed to the outer periphery of the rotating body 1 and the inner periphery of the fixing body 2. For example, it may be arranged above the transformer windings 14 and 24.

  6, the bearing 5 is arranged at a position separated from the magnetic circuit as in FIG. 5, but the inner ring 16 and the rotary transformer core 15 of the rotating body 1 and the outer ring 26 and the fixed transformer of the fixed body 2 are arranged. The core 25 is integrated. That is, the inner ring 16 is a part of the rotary transformer core 15, and the outer ring 26 is a part of the fixed transformer core 25. In the example of FIG. 6, the lengths of the transformer cores 15 and 25 are increased along the rotation axis 4 as compared with the non-contact connector 10 of FIGS. 3 and 5.

  Also in this example, the rotation-side optical element 13 and the fixed-side optical element 23 are located below the transformer windings 14 and 24 as shown in FIG. It may be at the top of 24. A plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 are arranged along the outer periphery of the rotating body 1 and the inner periphery of the fixed body 2, respectively.

  FIG. 7 is an example in which perforations are provided in the outer wall and the inner wall of the rotation side holding part 12 and the fixed side holding part 22, respectively, and the rotation side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23 are provided in the holes. That is, a plurality of perforations are provided on the outer wall of the rotation side holding portion 12 that is a part of the rotation side transformer core 15 for holding the rotation side electric circuit portion 11 toward the rotation shaft 4 side. The rotation side optical element 13 is provided in each perforation. The same applies to the fixed body 2. A perforation is provided in the inner wall of the fixed-side holding portion 22 in the direction opposite to the rotation shaft 4, and the fixed-side optical element 23 is disposed in the perforation. The optical elements 13 and 23 are in positions facing each other, and a plurality of optical elements are arranged along the outer wall and the inner wall as in the above example. The optical elements 13 and 23 are connected to the electric circuit portions 11 and 21 by wirings not shown, respectively.

  In the present embodiment, the rotating side light element 13 and the fixed side light element 23 are composed of incandescent bulbs, LEDs, etc., but actually have a certain width, so that the outer wall of the rotating body 1 and the inner wall of the fixed body 2 are used. When the optical elements 13 and 23 are attached to the optical elements 13 and 23, the optical elements 13 and 23 come into contact with each other and obstruct the rotation of the rotating body 1. Therefore, by providing a perforation as shown in FIG. 7 and disposing the optical elements 13 and 23 in the perforations, it is possible to smoothly rotate the rotating body 1 without hindering the rotating operation. In addition, the length in the radial direction from the rotation shaft 4 can be shortened compared to the case where the optical elements 13 and 23 are provided on the outer wall and the inner wall of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2, and the non-contact connector 10 itself can be made smaller. You can also In addition to this, the optical elements 13 and 23 may be composed of, for example, a photodiode or a phototransistor.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which notches 17 and 27 are provided in the upper part instead of the perforations, and the optical elements 13 and 23 are arranged in the notches 17 and 27. That is, a notch 17 is provided in the upper part of the rotation side holding part 12 and at the lower part of the rotation side electric circuit part 11 in the direction of the bearing 5, and the rotation side optical element 13 is arranged in the notch 17. The fixed-side optical element 23 is also disposed in a notch 27 provided in the upper part of the fixed-side holding part 22 and below the fixed-side electric circuit part 21 in the direction of the bearing 5. Of course, the notches 17 and 27 are provided so as to face each other when the optical elements 13 and 23 are disposed therein.

  In the case of the notches 17 and 27 as well, the non-contact connector 10 itself can be made small while being smoothly rotated without hindering the rotation operation of the rotating body 1 as in FIG. In the example of FIG. 8, the notches 17 and 27 are provided in the holding parts 12 and 22. For example, the optical elements 13 and 23 face each other below the transformer windings 14 and 24 (lower parts of the transformer cores 15 and 25). You may make it provide. Even in this case, the same effect is obtained.

  FIG. 9 shows an example in which the rotation-side optical element 13 and the fixed-side optical element 23 are disposed on the disks of the rotation body 1 and the fixed body 2, respectively. That is, the optical elements 13 and 23 are arranged so as to face each other on the outer wall of the rotating body 1 and the upper part of the disk of the fixing body 2 along the inner wall of the fixing body 2. Also in this case, since the elements 13 and 23 are disposed inside the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2, the rotating operation of the rotating body 1 is not hindered, and the size of the non-contact connector 10 is reduced. be able to. Also in this example, the optical elements 13 and 23 are connected to the electric circuit portions 11 and 21 by wiring (not shown). Although the number of optical elements 13 and 23 is two in FIG. 6, the number may be other than this. Further, in addition to the position shown in FIG. 9, this position may be arranged so as to face the lowermost parts of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 (lower parts of the transformer cores 15 and 25 in FIG. 9).

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which a plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 are provided in a plurality of stages. When the optical elements 13 and 23 are provided on the upper part of the disk of the rotating body 1 or the fixed body 2 as shown in FIG. 9, the number of the optical elements 13 and 23 is limited by the area of the disk. Therefore, when the data for one channel can be transmitted and received by the optical elements 13 and 23, the number of channels of data to be handled is also limited. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the rotating side holding portion 12 and the fixed side holding portion 22 are formed in a cylindrical shape, and when the plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 are provided on the side surface in a plurality of stages, The longer the length, the greater the number of optical elements 13, 23. Therefore, the number of channels can be increased in the case shown in FIG. 10 than in the case where the rotation side element 13 is provided in the upper part of the disk shown in FIG.

  In recent years, since the amount of data handled by the main unit has increased, it is desired to transmit and receive multi-channel data even with the non-contact connector 10. In this way, the holding units 12 and 22 are formed into a cylindrical shape and the rotating body 1. Further, by forming the fixed body 2 itself in a cylindrical shape, it is possible to provide more optical elements 13 and 23, so that it is possible to provide the non-contact connector 10 that can meet the demand for multi-channel. Of course, in the example shown in FIG. 3 and the like, a plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 can be arranged in one stage to realize multi-channel, but in order to secure a larger number of channels, as shown in FIG. It can be said that it is better to have multiple stages.

  Also in the example shown in FIG. 10, the elements 13 and 23 are connected to the electric circuit portions 11 and 21 through wiring (not shown), respectively, as in FIG. 9 and the like, and the rotation side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23 face each other. Are arranged as follows. Since a plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 need only be arranged over a plurality of stages, the position thereof does not need to be provided above the transformer windings 14 and 24 as shown in FIG. The lower portions of the wires 14 and 24 may be cylindrical, and a plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 may be provided in the cylindrical portion. Also, the number of stages is three in the example of FIG. 10, but there may be any number of stages such as two stages, four stages, and five stages.

  In addition, in order to transmit and receive data between the rotating side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23, the light emitting element and the light receiving element are mixed and arranged in the optical elements 13 and 23. That's fine. At this time, for example, in the example of FIG. 10, when the rotation side optical element 13 is a light emitting element at an arbitrary stage of the rotating body 1, the rotation side optical element 13 is arranged as a light receiving element at a stage different from the arbitrary stage. When they are mixed and arranged, it is necessary to arrange one as a light emitting element and the other as a light receiving element at positions facing each other. As shown in FIG. 10, bi-directional data transmission / reception can be realized with more channels.

  The example of FIG. 11 is an example in which the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 are configured by removing the magnetic circuit by the rotating transformer. In other words, the rotor 1 and the fixed body 2 are examples in which the transformer windings 14 and 24 and the transformer cores 15 and 25 are excluded. In such a case, power supply to the rotating body 1 includes, for example, a power storage device or a dry battery in the rotating body 1, and the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 is driven by the electric power. Furthermore, the power from the main body device may be supplied to both the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2.

  In the example of FIG. 11, since it is not necessary to consider a magnetic circuit, the bearing 5 does not need to be made of a nonmagnetic material and can be made of various materials. The rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 is disposed on the inner peripheral side of the rotation-side holding unit 12, and the fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the fixed-side holding unit 22. Although the transformer windings 14 and 24 are originally arranged, the degree of freedom in the position where the electric circuit portions 11 and 21 are arranged is increased by the absence of the windings 14 and 24. Therefore, size reduction of the non-contact connector 10 is realizable. Of course, you may make it provide the electric circuit parts 11 and 21 in the upper part or the lower part of the holding parts 12 and 22 besides this.

  In FIG. 11, a plurality of optical elements 13 and 23 are arranged on the outer and inner walls of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 above the holding portions 12 and 22. This is for realizing multi-channel. As long as the rotary transformer is excluded, in addition to this, the holders 12 and 22 are perforated as shown in FIG. 7 and the optical elements 13 and 23 are arranged in the perforations, as shown in FIG. Cutouts 17 and 27 may be provided on the disk, and the cutouts 17 and 27 may be provided therein, or may be provided on the disks of the rotating body 1 and the fixed body 2 as shown in FIG. In any case, as described above, the non-contact connector 10 can be miniaturized and the number of channels can be increased.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the rotating body electrical circuit unit 11 and the stationary body electrical circuit unit 21. This figure shows an example in which data of four channels (each of CH.1 to CH.4) is transmitted and received. In addition, the electric circuit parts 11 and 21 shown in this figure are applied to any non-contact connector 10 shown in FIGS.

  As illustrated in FIG. 12, the electric circuit unit 11 includes four interface (I / F) circuits 111 to 114 and four drive circuits 115 to 118.

  Each of the I / F circuits 111 to 114 receives data (CH.1 to CH.4) supplied from the main unit connected to the rotating body 1 and converts the data into data that can be processed in the electric circuit unit 11. In the example of FIG. 12, since data of four channels can be transmitted and received, I / Fs 111 to 114 (four in total) are provided for each channel.

  The drive circuits 115 to 118 are circuits that generate drive data for driving the rotation-side optical element 13, and the data output from the I / F circuits 111 to 114 is input to correspond to the data. Drive data is generated. There are as many drive circuits 115 to 118 as there are channels corresponding to the number of input channels (four in total). The generated drive data is supplied to the rotation side optical elements 131 to 134, respectively.

  The rotation side optical elements 131 to 134 emit light corresponding to the drive data by photoelectric conversion or the like based on the drive data supplied from the respective drive circuits 115 to 118. In the case of this example, the rotation side optical elements 131 to 134 are light emitting elements, and are composed of a number of elements corresponding to the number of input channels (four in this embodiment).

  As described above, the fixed-side optical elements 231 to 238 can receive light from the rotary-side optical elements 131 to 134 continuously without interruption when the rotating body 1 is rotating. The number of elements is equal to or more than that of the elements 131 to 134. In the case of FIG. 12, it is comprised from the eight fixed side optical elements 231-238. The light from the rotation side light emitting elements 131 to 134 only needs to be received by any one of the fixed side elements 231 to 238. For example, the light from the element 131 may be received by the element 231 or the element 235. In the case of this example, the fixed side optical elements 231 to 238 function as light receiving elements.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 includes receiving circuits 2111 to 2118 connected to the fixed-side optical elements 231 to 238, a multiplexer 2120, interface (I / F) circuits 2121 to 2124, and the like. Consists of

  The reception circuits 2111 to 2118 are also connected to the multiplexer 2120 and receive light reception signals from the fixed-side optical elements 231 to 238, respectively. The reception circuits 2111 to 2118 convert the received light signals into data that can be processed in the fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 and output the data to the multiplexer 2120. In this example, since there are eight optical elements 231 to 238, there are eight receiving circuits 2111 to 2118 corresponding to these elements.

  The multiplexer 2120 is for switching the input data so that the data from each of the receiving circuits 2111 to 2118 is input and the data is supplied to the output stage of the corresponding channel. Actually, it is composed of a plurality of logic circuits. In the case of this example, since the connector 10 can transmit and receive four channels, four output stages are provided correspondingly.

  The I / F circuits 2121 to 2124 receive the data supplied from the multiplexer 2120 and convert it into data that can be output to the outside. In this example, since there are four output stages, there are four interface circuits. Data output from each I / F circuit 2121 to 2124 is output to an output stage corresponding to each channel. In FIG. 12, CH. 1, CH. 2, CH. 3, CH. 4 output data is output.

  An example of the operation including the electric circuit portions 11 and 23 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 14.

  First, when power is turned on to an external device connected to the fixed body 2, power is supplied to the fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 shown in FIG. Further, the rotating body 1 is driven to rotate by driving the main body device connected to the rotating body 1. For example, if the main body device is a camera that can rotate 360 °, the camera itself rotates and the rotating body 1 also rotates in order to take an image. Further, power is also supplied to the fixed transformer winding 24. By supplying current to the winding 24, a magnetic field is generated as described above, and electric power is supplied to the rotating transformer winding 14 of the rotating body 1. Thereby, the rotation side optical element 13 can be driven. Then, when data is supplied from the main unit to the rotating body 1, data relating to the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 is input as shown in FIG. 12 described above. Examples of data are shown in FIGS.

  The example of FIG. 13 is an example in which different data (for example, video and audio data, respectively) is input to channel 1 (CH.1) and channel 3 (CH.3). Also, clock data for synchronization with the data of channel 1 and channel 3 is input to channel 2 (CH.2) and channel 4 (CH.4), respectively. Thus, different data is generated for each channel and input to the connector 10. Note that such data generation and data separation for each channel are performed by a processing circuit (not shown) of the fixed-side device.

  The data shown in FIG. 13 is input to the drive circuits 115 to 118 via the I / Fs 111 to 114 of the electric circuit unit 11. Here, the driving circuit 116 to which the data of the channel 2 is input performs a process of raising the level of the data to a predetermined level (for example, twice the level) higher than the input level. By doing in this way, the multiplexer 2120 can identify which data is the data of the channel 2 among the data received by any one of the optical elements 231 to 238 of the fixed body 2. Then, from the arrangement on the disk of the rotation side light elements (light emitting elements) 131 to 134 or the arrangement on the cylinder, it is identified which channel data the light received by the fixed side light elements (light receiving elements) 231 to 238 is. can do.

  For example, it is assumed that data of channel 2 is emitted from the light emitting element 132 and received by the light receiving element 232. At that time, the arrangement relationship of the light emitting elements, for example, the light emitting elements are arranged in order of the light emitting element 131 of the channel 1, the light emitting element 132 of the channel 2, the light emitting element 133 of the channel 3, and the light emitting element 134 of the channel 4 in order clockwise on the disk. In this case, the data received by the light receiving element 234 can be identified as channel 3 data, the data received by the light receiving element 236 can be identified as channel 4 data, and the data received by the light receiving element 238 can be identified as channel 1 data. Is possible.

  In the multiplexer 2120, such an arrangement relationship is configured by a logic circuit, whereby data for each channel can be identified and switched to a corresponding output channel for output. Of course, it is the same even if the level of channels other than channel 2 is set higher than the other channels.

  Drive data corresponding to the data shown in FIG. 13 is output from the drive circuits 115 to 118 and supplied to the rotation side optical elements 131 to 134. Based on the drive data, the elements 131 to 134 emit light and are received by any one of the fixed side optical elements 231 to 238. The received data is input to the multiplexer 2120 via the receiving circuits 2111 to 2118 as described above, and further switched so as to correspond to each channel, and the I / Fs 2121 to 2124 from each designated output stage. Is output to the outside.

  In the above example, the data of any one of the input data is set to be different from the data level of the other channels to identify the channel, and the arrangement of the rotation side optical elements 131 to 134 is further determined. From the relationship, each channel recognizes which channel the data is. In addition, the data of each channel can be identified by the data shown in FIG. That is, by inserting data for channel identification at the head of the data of each channel and causing the light emitting elements 131 to 134 to emit light, the multiplexer 2120 of the fixed body 2 can also identify the data of that channel.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 14, a 2-bit identification code is added to the head of each data of each channel, and the light emitting elements 131 to 134 emit light. Similarly to FIG. 13, light emitted from the light emitting elements 131 to 134 is received by any one of the light receiving elements 231 to 238. The data input to the multiplexer 2120 via the receiving circuits 2111 to 2118 identifies which channel the data received by this identification code is.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the identification code is “00”, data of the first channel, when “01”, data of the second channel, when “10”, data of the third channel, “11” When the identification code is “00”, the multiplexer 2120 switches the input data so that the output is output to the I / F 2121 as the data of the first channel. It will be. Similarly, the second channel is output to the I / F 2122, the third channel is output to the I / F 2123, and the fourth channel is output to the I / F 2124. This identification code is added to the head of the data for one clock as shown in FIG. Such channel identification codes may be performed by a data processing circuit (not shown) of an external device connected to the fixed body 2, or may be performed by the drive circuits 115 to 118 of the rotation-side electric circuit 11. Good. Further, instead of adding a channel identification code to all data of all channels, any one of a plurality of channels is added, and each of the light emitting elements 131 to 134 is arranged in the same manner as in FIG. Channel identification may be performed. Further, the identification code may be added not at every clock as shown in FIG. 14, but at every predetermined number of clocks, for example, at the head of each frame of video data.

  In this way, by setting the data level to be different only for a certain channel or adding a channel identification code, when the multi-channel data is received by the fixed body 2, it is recognized which channel the data is. Can be output to the output stage, and the request for the multi-channel contactless connector 10 can be answered.

  In the example described above, the rotation side optical element 13 is a light emitting element and the fixed side optical element 23 is a light receiving element. Conversely, the rotation side optical element 13 is a light receiving element, and the fixed side optical element 23 is a light emitting element. Also good. In this case, the receiving circuit, the multiplexer, and the I / F described above may be provided in the electric circuit unit 11 of the rotating body 1, and the I / F and driving circuit may be provided in the electric circuit unit 21 of the fixed body 2. In addition, if the number of the rotation-side optical elements 13 is set to be equal to or greater than the number of the fixed-side optical elements 23, the light emitted from the fixed-side optical element 23 can be reliably received by the rotation-side optical element 13.

  In addition, by providing both the light emitting element and the light receiving element in the rotation side optical element 13 and the fixed side optical element 23, it is possible to perform transmission / reception of data between the rotation body 1 and the fixed body 2 by bidirectional non-contact. Become. In this case, both the rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 and the fixed-side electric circuit unit 21 are provided with an I / F, a drive circuit, a reception circuit, a multiplexer, and the like.

1 is a perspective view of a non-contact connector 10 to which the present invention is applied. 1 is a top view of a non-contact connector 10 to which the present invention is applied. 1 is a side view of a non-contact connector 10 to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a magnetic circuit composed of a rotating body 1 and a fixed body 2. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the other example of the non-contact connector 10 to which this invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a rotation-side electric circuit unit 11 and a fixed-side electric circuit unit 21. It is a figure which shows the example of the data processed by the electric circuit parts 11 and 21. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the data processed by the electric circuit parts 11 and 21. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotating body 10 Non-contact connector 11 Rotation side electric circuit part 13 Rotation side optical element 14 Rotation side transformer winding 15 Rotation side transformer core 16 Inner ring 17 Notch 2 Fixed body 21 Fixed side electric circuit part 2120 Multiplexer 23 Fixed side optical element 24 Fixed transformer winding 25 Fixed transformer core 26 Outer ring 4 Rotating shaft 5 Bearing 7 Hollow part 31 Rolling element

Claims (15)

A rotation-side optical element disposed on a rotating body that rotates around a rotation axis;
A fixed-side optical element disposed on a fixed body at a position facing the rotational-side optical element, and performs non-contact data transmission / reception between the rotational-side optical element and the fixed-side optical element. A contact connector,
The rotating body is formed in a cylindrical shape with the rotating shaft as a central axis, and has a hollow portion in the cylinder, and a plurality of the rotating side optical elements are arranged on a side surface of the rotating body. Non-contact connector. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
The non-contact connector, wherein a plurality of the rotation side optical elements are arranged on a side surface of the rotating body over a plurality of stages. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
The non-contact connector, wherein the fixed side optical element is disposed on a side surface of the fixed body so as to face the rotating side optical element. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
The non-contact connector, wherein the rotation side light element is a mixture of a rotation side light receiving element and a rotation side light emitting element. The non-contact connector according to claim 4,
The fixed-side light element is a position facing the rotation-side light receiving element and the rotation-side light-emitting element when the rotation-side light-receiving element and the rotation-side light-emitting element are mixed and arranged along the outer periphery of the rotating body. A non-contact connector in which a fixed side light emitting element and a fixed side light receiving element are arranged. The non-contact connector according to claim 2 or 4,
The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein when the rotation-side light receiving element is arranged at an arbitrary stage of the rotating body, the rotation-side light emitting element is arranged at a stage different from the arbitrary stage. The non-contact connector according to claim 6,
The fixed-side light element has a fixed-side light-emitting element disposed at a position facing the rotation-side light-receiving element disposed at the arbitrary stage, and is opposed to the rotation-side light-emitting element disposed at a stage different from the arbitrary stage. A non-contact connector, characterized in that a fixed-side light receiving element is disposed at a position to be fixed. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
The data output from the fixed side optical element is input, and the rotation side optical element from which the data is input is identified, and the data of the data to correspond to the identified rotation side optical element. A non-contact connector, further comprising switching means for switching the output. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
A non-contact connector comprising a transformer winding in each of the rotating body and the fixed body. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
Furthermore, a bearing is provided between the rotating body and the fixed body, and the bearing is shared with the bearing of the main body side device and the bearing of the non-contact connector. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
Furthermore, a bearing is provided between the rotating body and the fixed body, and the bearing, the fixed-side optical element, and the rotating-side optical element have an integral structure. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
Both the rotating body and the fixed body are provided with perforations, and the rotation-side optical element and the fixed-side optical element are provided in the perforations, respectively, so that the rotation-side optical element and the fixed-side optical element face each other. A non-contact connector arranged on The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
A notch is provided in both the rotating body and the fixed body, and the rotating side optical element and the fixed side optical element are respectively provided in the notch, and the rotating side optical element and the fixed side optical element are opposed to each other. A non-contact connector, characterized by being arranged as follows. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
The non-contact connector, wherein the rotation side optical element and the fixed side optical element are arranged so as to face each other on a disk surface perpendicular to a rotation axis of the rotation body and the fixed body, respectively. The non-contact connector according to claim 1, wherein
The fixed body is formed in a cylindrical shape in a direction parallel to the rotation axis, and the rotation body is translated with respect to the rotation axis to a position where the rotation side optical element and the fixed side optical element face each other. A non-contact connector that performs non-contact data transmission / reception with the fixed body at the position.

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