JP2013019455A - Control cable length adjusting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control cable length adjusting device which can steplessly adjust a length between an inner cable and a connecting member, is easy in the adjustment of the length and high in accuracy.SOLUTION: A slider 5 attached to the longitudinal end of the inner cable 3 is accommodated in a first hole 9 of a holder 8, a distance between the connecting member 4 and the inner cable 3 is adjusted by sliding the slider 5 in the first hole 9, a lock piece 11 in which an inclined face 12 of a wedge which is trapezoidal in cross section is inserted into a second hole 10, and when the lock piece 11 is accommodated in the groove 6 of the slider 5, a position of the slider 5 in the holder 8 is fixed by a friction force generated between an inclined face 7 of a groove 7 and the inclined face 12 of the lock piece 11. Furthermore, when a lever-shaped clamp 16 arranged at the holder 8 is rotated, a push-in part 18 of the clamp 16 pushes the lock piece 11 into the groove 6 of the slider 5, and when a claw 17 is hung and locked to the holder 8, the clamp 16 serves for retaining the lock piece 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control cable length adjusting device used in a vehicle, and is suitable for a control cable used by being attached to a connection object such as a selector of an automatic transmission, for example.

  For example, in the case of a control cable such as a vehicle select cable, it is necessary to adjust the length between an inner cable built in an outer cable and a connection object, for example. Examples of such a control cable length adjusting device include those described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 below. Among these, the control cable length adjusting device described in the following Patent Document 1 is, for example, when fixing the mounting member that regulates the end position of the outer cable and the bracket to which the mounting member is attached with a bolt. The length of the inner cable protruding from the outer cable is adjusted by adjusting the position of the end of the outer cable by loosening the bolt and moving the mounting member. After the adjustment, the bolt is tightened to fix the mounting member to the bracket, and the inner cable length (slack, tension) adjustment is completed. In addition, the control cable length adjusting device described in Patent Document 2 described below is a longitudinal end portion of the inner cable in which a cylindrical member having a sawtooth-like cross section formed on the outer periphery at an equal pitch in the longitudinal (axis) direction is used. The length of the inner cable is adjusted by adjusting the distance between the inner cable and the connecting member by inserting the cylindrical member into the main body to which the connecting member such as the eye end is attached and adjusting the insertion depth of the cylindrical member. After adjustment, the key member is inserted into a window hole provided in a direction intersecting with the cylindrical member insertion direction of the main body. The key member is formed with irregularities having an equal pitch that meshes with the irregularities on the outer periphery of the cylindrical member. When the key member is fixed to the window hole, the concave and convex portions of the cylindrical member and the concave and convex portions of the key member are engaged to fix the cylindrical member. This completes the adjustment of the length (connection length) of the inner cable.

JP-A-6-249227 JP 2005-172203 A

However, in the control cable length adjusting device described in Patent Document 1, the bolt must be tightened after adjusting the length of the inner cable, and skill is required for highly accurate length adjustment. Moreover, in the control cable length adjustment apparatus described in the said patent document 2, the length of an inner cable and a connection member can be adjusted only for every pitch of an unevenness | corrugation.
The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems, and the length of the inner cable and the connecting member can be adjusted steplessly, and the length can be easily adjusted with high accuracy. An object of the present invention is to provide a control cable length adjusting device.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an embodiment of the present invention is a control cable length adjusting device in which an inner cable is accommodated in an outer cable, the slider being attached to a longitudinal end portion of the inner cable, and the slider. A groove having a pair of inclined surfaces formed so as to extend in the extending direction of the inner cable and become narrower from the opening side toward the bottom side, and a tapered cross section accommodated in the groove of the slider are formed. A lock piece having a pair of inclined surfaces, a first hole that extends in the extending direction of the inner cable and slidably accommodates the slider, is formed to communicate with the first hole, and the lock piece is inserted A second hole part, a holder provided with a connecting member disposed on the opposite side of the inner cable with respect to the first hole part, and the holder When the slider is stored in the first hole, the lock piece is inserted into the second hole of the holder, the inclined surface of the lock piece is brought into contact with the inclined surface of the groove of the slider, and the lock piece is stored in the groove It is a control cable length adjusting device that fixes the position of the slider in the holder by a frictional force generated between the inclined surface of the groove and the inclined surface of the lock piece.

  Also, an insulator-shaped clamp provided on the holder and rotating around a hinge part, a claw part provided on the clamp and hooked on the holder, and provided between the hinge part and the claw part of the clamp. It is a control cable length adjusting device provided with the pushing part which pushes a lock piece in the groove | channel of a slider.

The lock piece is a control cable length adjusting device attached to the clamp via a lock piece hinge.
And a control cable provided with a weir portion formed on at least the edge of the second hole portion on the opposite side of the connecting member and in contact with a surface perpendicular to the inner cable extending direction of the lock piece housed in the groove of the slider. It is a length adjusting device.

  Thus, according to the embodiment of the invention, the lock piece having a pair of inclined surfaces which form a tapered cross-section by accommodating the slider attached to the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the inner cable in the first hole portion of the holder. When the lock piece is inserted into the second hole opening in the first hole portion, and the inclined surface of the lock piece is brought into contact with the inclined surface constituting the bottom narrow groove of the slider and the lock piece is accommodated in the groove, the inclined surface of the groove The position of the slider in the holder is fixed by a frictional force generated between the lock piece and the inclined surface of the lock piece. Therefore, if the slider is slid in the first hole and then the lock piece is accommodated in the groove, the distance between the connecting member provided at the end of the holder opposite to the inner cable and the inner cable, that is, the inner cable The length can be adjusted. Therefore, the length of the inner cable and the connecting member can be adjusted steplessly, and the length can be easily adjusted with high accuracy.

  When the lever-shaped clamp provided on the holder is rotated, the pushing portion between the hinge portion and the claw portion of the clamp pushes the lock piece into the groove of the slider, and the claw portion provided on the clamp is directly held in the holder. The lock piece can be easily pushed into the groove of the slider by being hooked on the clamp, and the clamp that is hooked on the holder is used to prevent the lock piece from coming off.

In addition, since the lock piece is attached to the clamp via the lock piece hinge, at least the holder and the lock piece are integrated and easy to handle.
Further, since the surface perpendicular to the inner cable extension direction of the lock piece housed in the groove of the slider is in contact with at least the weir portion formed at the edge of the second hole on the side opposite to the connecting member, The slider can be fixed in the holder.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the control cable length adjustment apparatus of this invention. It is a top view of the control cable length adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the usage method of the control cable length adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the force which acts on the control cable length adjustment apparatus of FIG.

Next, an embodiment of the control cable length adjusting device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the control cable length adjusting device of the present embodiment. FIG. 1a shows a state before the inner cable is fixed, and FIG. 1b shows a state where the inner cable is fixed. 2 is a plan view of the control cable length adjusting device of FIG. 1, FIG. 2a shows a state before the inner cable is fixed, and FIG. 2b shows a state where the inner cable is fixed. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a method of using the control cable length adjusting device of FIG. 1, FIG. 3a is a longitudinal cross-sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cable showing the state before the inner cable is fixed, and FIG. Fig. 3c is a longitudinal cross-sectional view perpendicular to the cable longitudinal direction showing a state in which the inner cable is fixed.

  Reference numeral 1 in the figure is a control cable connected to a connection object such as a selector of an automatic transmission, for example, and is mainly connected to an outer cable 2 (see FIG. 2a) for the purpose of mounting to a transmission case or a selector body. The cable 3 is configured to be slidable in the longitudinal direction. The control cable length adjusting device of the present embodiment is a distance (length) between a connecting member 4 such as an eye end that is substantially connected to a connecting object such as a selector lever and a longitudinal end portion of the inner cable 3. Is adjusted to adjust the substantial length (connection length) of the inner cable 3.

  A slider 5 is attached in advance to the longitudinal end of the inner cable 3 of the present embodiment. The slider 5 is a rectangular parallelepiped made of, for example, resin that is long in the extending direction of the inner cable 3, and the groove 6 is formed so as to open to one of four surfaces parallel to the extending direction of the inner cable 3, in the drawing, the upper surface. Is formed. The groove 6 extends in the extending direction of the inner cable 3 and has a narrow trapezoidal cross section having a wide opening side and a narrow bottom side, and inclined surfaces 7 on both sides thereof are inclined surfaces of a lock piece to be described later. For example, the left and right inclination angles are the same with respect to the vertical plane of FIG. The slider 5 may be a separate body from the inner cable 3, and in that case, for example, the inner portion of the slider 5 is tightened by caulking the caulking portion provided on the slider 5 and the longitudinal end of the inner cable 3. It fixes to the longitudinal direction edge part of the cable 3. FIG. Further, the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the inner cable extension direction of the slider 5 is not limited to a square, but may be a polygon or a circle. However, the slider 5 can be slid in the holder and the groove of the lock piece will be described later. In consideration of storage, a square is preferable.

  The slider 5 is accommodated in the first hole 9 of the holder 8 so as to be slidable in the inner cable extending direction. A connecting member 4 such as an eye end is provided on the side of the holder 8 opposite to the inner cable 3. The holder 8 is a rectangular parallelepiped made of, for example, resin that is slightly larger than the slider 5, and the first hole 9 that is long in the inner cable extending direction opens to the surface of the holder 8 opposite to the connecting member 4. The inner cable 3 is forwarded from the opening and is housed in the first hole 9. The first hole 9 has a length that allows the slider 5 to slide sufficiently in the inner cable extending direction. In the figure, the groove 6 of the slider 5 is accommodated in the first hole 9 so as to open upward.

  A second hole portion 10 is formed on the surface of the holder 8 facing the groove 6 of the slider 5 accommodated in the first hole portion 9, here the upper surface of the figure so as to intersect the first hole portion 9. ing. The second hole portion 10 is a hole serving as a passage for the lock piece 11 for inserting the lock piece 11 and pushing it into the groove 6 of the slider 5. Therefore, the second hole portion 10 is formed in the first hole portion 9 in which the slider 5 is accommodated. It is necessary to communicate. The second hole 10 has a rectangular shape, and dam portions 13 are formed on both sides of the inner cable extension direction so that the surfaces 14 of the lock piece 11 perpendicular to the inner cable extension direction come into contact with each other. That is, when the lock piece 11 is stored in the groove 6 of the slider 5 through the second hole portion 10, the surface 14 perpendicular to the inner cable extension direction of the lock piece 11 contacts the weir portion 13, and the inner cable extension of the slider 5 is reached. Movement in the direction is restricted. The dam portion 13 needs to be formed at least at the edge of the second hole 10 on the side opposite to the connecting member 4, and is formed at the edge of the second hole 10 on the connecting member 4 side. It may be. Moreover, in this embodiment, although the adjacent part of the 2nd hole part 10 is also opened among the upper surfaces of the holder 8, this opening part does not need to open.

  A hinge portion 15 is provided on the surface of the holder 8 in which the second hole portion 10 is formed, that is, on the corner of the upper surface of the figure, and an L-shaped clamp 16 is provided on the holder 8 via the hinge portion 15. Is provided. Accordingly, the clamp 16 rotates around the hinge portion 15 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3B (clockwise direction in the drawing), that is, in the direction in which the clamp 16 covers the second hole portion 10. That is, the clamp 16 has a lever shape. A claw portion 17 is provided at the end of the clamp 16 opposite to the hinge portion 15 so as to be hooked on a corner portion of the holder 8 positioned diagonally to the hinge portion 15. Further, when the clamp 16 is rotated around the hinge portion 15 of the clamp 16, a pushing portion 18 made of a convex portion having a flat tip is formed in a portion covering the second hole portion 10. A lock piece 11 is provided at 18. The lock piece 11 is rotatably attached to the push-in portion 18 via a lock piece hinge 19 provided on the hinge portion 15 side. As a result, the lock piece 11 is attached to the clamp 16 by the hinge portion 15. Can be rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction, that is, in the clockwise direction of FIG.

  The lock piece 11 extends in the direction of extension of the inner cable and has a tapered trapezoidal cross section. In FIG. 3A, the upper part is narrower and the lower part is wider. The inclined surfaces 12 on both sides thereof are the same as the inclined surface 7 of the groove 6. For example, the inclination angle is the same with respect to the vertical plane. The length of the lock piece 11 in the inner cable extending direction is substantially equal to the distance between the opposing weir portions 13 of the second hole portion 10. As will be described later, since the position of the slider 5 in the holder 8 is fixed by a frictional force generated between the inclined surface 7 of the groove 6 and the inclined surface 12 of the lock piece 11, the lock piece 11 has a so-called wedge, and therefore, for example, the inclination angle of the inclined surface 12 in FIG.

  When using this control cable length adjusting device, the slider 5 attached to the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the inner cable 3 is inserted into the first hole 9 of the holder 8 as described above, and the first hole 9 The slider 5 is slid in the inner cable extending direction to adjust the distance between the longitudinal end portion of the inner cable 3 and the connecting member 4, that is, the substantial connecting length of the inner cable 3. When the substantial connection length of the inner cable 3 is adjusted, for example, the clamp 16 is pushed with a finger and rotated around the hinge portion 15. Then, as shown in FIG. 3b, the lock piece 11 rotates under the lock piece hinge 19 due to its own weight or in contact with the second hole 10 or the groove 6 of the slider 5, and the lock piece 11 is rotated into the second hole portion. 10 is inserted into the groove 6. When the clamp 16 is further pushed with a finger or the like from that state, the lock piece 11 is tightly accommodated in the groove 6 of the slider 5 by the pushing portion 18.

  When the clamp 16 is further pressed, the claw portion 17 is hooked on the corner of the holder 8 and stopped, and the state shown in FIG. At this time, a frictional force is generated between the inclined surface 12 of the lock piece 11 forming a wedge and the inclined surface 7 of the groove 6 of the slider 5, and the slider 5 is fixed to the holder 8. Moreover, the surface 14 orthogonal to the inner cable extension direction of the lock piece 11 contacts the weir part 13 of the second hole 10, and the movement of the slider 5 in the inner cable extension direction is restricted. As a result, the inner cable 3 and the holder 8 are fixed, and the substantial connection length adjustment of the inner cable 3 is completed.

  At this time, the force acting on the lock piece 11 and the slider 5 will be considered based on FIG. Here, the necessary pushing force P when the lock piece 11 is pushed into the groove 6 of the slider 5 and the friction force F generated on the inclined surfaces 7 and 12 are obtained, but once the lock piece 11 is placed in the groove 6 of the slider 5. As long as it is pushed in and the state is maintained by the clamp 16, the same friction force F acts on the inclined surfaces 7 and 12 in all directions. Here, the control cable 1 is connected to the selector lever, the selector operating force is 30 N, the selector lever ratio, that is, the distance from the selector rotation center to the control cable connection point with respect to the distance from the selector rotation center to the operation unit. Is 1/2, the frictional force F for preventing the lock piece 11 and the slider 5 from moving by the frictional force between the inclined surfaces 7 and 12 is 60N.

  When the pushing force of the lock piece 11 is P, the reaction force perpendicular to the inclined surfaces 7 and 12 is N, the wedge apex angle is 2α, that is, the inclination angle of the inclined surfaces 7 and 12 with respect to, for example, the vertical surface is α, and the friction coefficient is μ. The relationship shown in the following equation is established for the force shown in FIG. When the apex angle 2α and the friction coefficient μ are set as shown in Table 1 below, for example, the reaction force N and the necessary pushing force P are obtained as shown in Table 2 below. Thus, in the control cable length adjusting device of the present embodiment, a sufficient frictional force that the slider 5 does not move relative to the holder 8 can be obtained with a relatively small pushing force.

  As described above, in the control cable length adjusting device of the present embodiment, the slider 5 attached to the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the inner cable 3 is accommodated in the first hole 9 of the holder 8 to form a pair of tapered cross sections. When the lock piece 11 having the inclined surface 12 is inserted into the second hole portion 10 opened in the first hole portion 9 and the lock piece 11 is stored in the groove 6, the inclined surface 7 of the groove 6 and the inclination of the lock piece 11 are The position of the slider 5 in the holder 8 is fixed by the frictional force generated between the surface 12 and the surface 12. Therefore, if the lock piece 11 is accommodated in the groove 6 after the slider 5 is slid in the first hole 9, the connection between the inner cable 3 and the connecting member 4 disposed on the opposite side of the inner cable 3 of the holder 8. The distance, that is, the length of the inner cable 3 can be adjusted. Therefore, the length of the inner cable 3 and the connecting member 4 can be adjusted steplessly, and the length can be easily adjusted with high accuracy.

  Further, when the lever-like clamp 16 provided in the holder 8 is rotated, the pushing portion 18 between the hinge portion 15 and the claw portion 17 of the clamp 16 pushes the lock piece 11 into the groove 6 of the slider 5 and is clamped as it is. If the claw portion 17 provided on 16 is hung on the holder 8 and stopped, the lock piece 11 can be easily pushed into the groove 6 of the slider 5, and the clamp 16 hung on the holder 8 is stopped. It will be a safeguard.

Further, since the lock piece 11 is attached to the clamp 16 via the lock piece hinge 19, at least the holder 8 and the lock piece 11 are integrated and easy to handle.
In addition, a weir portion 13 in which a surface 14 orthogonal to the inner cable extending direction of the lock piece 11 housed in the groove 6 of the slider 5 is formed at least at the edge of the second hole portion 10 on the opposite side to the connecting member 4. Therefore, the slider 5 can be further fixed in the holder 8.

1 is a control cable 2 is an outer cable 3 is an inner cable 4 is a connecting member 5 is a slider 6 is a groove 7 is an inclined surface 8 is a holder 9 is a first hole 10 is a second hole 11 is a lock piece 12 is an inclined surface 13 Is a weir part 14 is a surface 15 is a hinge part 16 is a clamp 17 is a claw part 18 is a pushing part 19 is a hinge for a lock piece

Claims (4)

A control cable length adjusting device in which an inner cable is housed in an outer cable,
A slider attached to the longitudinal end of the inner cable;
A groove formed on the slider and extending in the extending direction of the inner cable, and having a pair of inclined surfaces that become narrower from each other toward the bottom side from the opening side;
A lock piece having a pair of inclined surfaces forming a tapered cross-section received in the groove of the slider;
A first hole that extends in the extending direction of the inner cable and slidably accommodates the slider; a second hole that is formed to communicate with the first hole and into which the lock piece is inserted; and the first hole A holder provided with a connecting member disposed on the opposite side of the inner cable with respect to the part,
The slider is stored in the first hole portion of the holder, the lock piece is inserted into the second hole portion of the holder, the inclined surface of the lock piece is brought into contact with the inclined surface of the groove of the slider, and the lock piece is stored in the groove. And a control cable length adjusting device for fixing the position of the slider in the holder by a frictional force generated between the inclined surface of the groove and the inclined surface of the lock piece. An insulator-like clamp provided on the holder and rotating around a hinge part;
A claw portion provided on the clamp and hung on the holder;
2. The control cable length adjusting device according to claim 1, further comprising: a pushing portion that is provided between a hinge portion and a claw portion of the clamp and pushes the lock piece into a groove of the slider.   The control cable length adjusting device according to claim 2, wherein the lock piece is attached to the clamp via a lock piece hinge.   The dam part which the surface orthogonal to the inner cable extension direction of the lock piece formed at least in the edge part of the 2nd hole part on the opposite side to the said connection member and accommodated in the groove | channel of the said slider contacted was provided. 4. The control cable length adjusting device according to any one of 3 above.

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