JP3818827B2 - Flat circuit body holding member - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a holding member for a flat circuit body that can be applied to a direction changing portion of a long flat circuit body.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a flexible flat cable (FFC) has been frequently used for in-vehicle wiring of electric systems such as automobiles. FFC has various advantages such as space saving, but has a drawback that it is difficult to change direction by bending. The flexible printed circuit (FPC) also has the same drawback as the FFC that is difficult to change direction.
[0003]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-209417 discloses an FPC bending structure 90 as shown in FIG. The long FPC 91 includes an extending direction of one side portion (right side portion in the drawing) 91a based on the bending structure 90 and an extension portion of the other side portion (upper portion in the drawing) 91b based on the bending structure 90. It is folded with a crease so that it intersects with the direction of current. Then, a bent portion 91 c that is a portion where the FPC 91 is bent and overlapped is sandwiched and fixed by a fixing member 92.
[0004]
The fixing member 92 is composed of two plate-like members, a first member 93 and a second member 94. The second member 94 includes a locking clip 94 a that is inserted into the engaging hole 93 a of the first member 93 and locks the first member 93 on one side thereof. On the other side, the second member 94 is provided with a fixing clip 94b that is fitted into a locking hole of the vehicle body and fixes the fixing member 92 to the vehicle body.
In the FPC bending structure 90, the bent portion 91c of the FPC 91 is disposed on the second member 94 of the fixing member 92, and the locking clip 94a of the second member 94 is passed through the bent portion 91c. Then, the first member 93 is locked by the locking clip 94 a, whereby the bent portion 91 c of the FPC 91 is sandwiched and fixed between the first member 93 and the second member 94.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional FPC bending structure 90, a long FPC is folded with a crease, but there is a concern that the strength of the FPC is reduced in the vicinity of the crease, and the reliability is lowered such as a crack is generated from the crease. .
In addition, it is difficult to re-lay the FPC and reuse the FPC after making a crease in the FPC and re-laying the FPC. Therefore, when an incorrect wiring is performed, the FPC must be discarded, which causes a decrease in productivity.
Furthermore, the operation of plastically deforming an FPC having elasticity and maintaining a linear shape so as to bend with a crease has been complicated.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to maintain the reliability of the flat circuit body, to facilitate the reuse of the flat circuit body, and to bend the flat circuit body with high versatility. An object of the present invention is to provide a holding member for a flat circuit body that realizes the structure.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above-mentioned object of the present invention is a holding member that holds the flat circuit body by arranging it at a direction changing position of the flat circuit body that changes the direction by forming a curved annular portion,
A first guide hole having a flat cross-sectional shape larger than a cross-sectional shape of the flat circuit body, and through which the portion of the flat circuit body extending from one end of the curved annular portion is inserted;
A second guide hole having a flat cross-sectional shape larger than the cross-sectional shape of the flat circuit body, and through which the portion of the flat circuit body extending from the other end of the curved annular portion is inserted;
And the center line of the first guide hole and the center line of the second guide hole intersect each other inside the holding member .
[0008]
Conventionally, the flat circuit body is conventionally folded with a crease, but the present inventors changed the way of thinking, and even if a curved annular portion is formed at a predetermined location where the flat circuit body is bent, no particular problem occurs. As a result, the present invention has been conceived.
Since the bent structure of the flat circuit body obtained by using the holding member of the present invention does not have a crease at the bent portion of the flat circuit body, there is a concern that a crack may occur from the fold and the reliability of the flat circuit body may be lowered. Absent. Further, it is easy to reuse the flat circuit body .
And, due to the elasticity (self-recovery) of the flat circuit body, the curved annular portion is always subjected to a stress that tends to increase (an attempt to reduce the curvature of the curved annular portion). The effect as an extra length absorption structure can also be produced. Therefore, this bending structure can be suitably used to route the flat circuit body in a mechanism having a movable part. Further, the curved annular portion can also absorb the wiring error of the flat circuit body. Further, the slack of the flat circuit body can be prevented by the curved annular portion.
The holding member of the present invention can give regularity to the shape of the curved annular portion of the flat circuit body and the movement of the curved annular portion, such as expansion / contraction, and the operation as a surplus length absorbing structure of the bending structure is smooth. To be played. In addition, the holding member of the present invention can fix the bending structure of the flat circuit body to the vehicle body or the like while ensuring the direction changing action of the flat circuit body and the action as the extra length absorbing structure.
In addition, as a flat circuit body, although FFC, FPC, a ribbon electric wire, etc. can be employ | adopted, it is preferable to use flexible flat circuit bodies, such as FFC and FPC with high elasticity.
[0009]
Further, if the flat circuit body is slidably inserted into the first guide hole or the second guide hole of the holding member of the present invention, the bending structure of the flat circuit body can be reduced. The action as a long absorption structure can be achieved more smoothly .
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bending structure of an FFC according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The FFC bending structure 10 is obtained by changing the direction of a long FFC 11 while making it circular at a predetermined position in the longitudinal direction. That is, at the location where the direction of the FFC is changed, the curved annular portion 11c is formed by the FFC 11, and the one side portion 11a of the FFC with respect to the curved annular portion 11c and the other side of the FFC with respect to the curved annular portion 11c. Is crossed with the portion 11b.
[0011]
The holding member 12 is provided at the intersection between the one-side portion 11a and the other-side portion 11b of the FFC, in other words, at the intersection between one end and the other end of the curved annular portion 11c. The holding member 12 includes a first guide hole 12a into which one end of the curved annular portion 11c is inserted / penetrated and a second guide hole 12b into which the other end of the curved annular portion 11c is inserted / penetrated. The first guide hole 12a and the second guide hole 12b have a certain rectangular cross-sectional shape. Here, the axis of the first guide hole 12a and the axis of the second guide hole 12b are orthogonal to each other. And the extending direction of the part 11a on one side of the FFC and the extending direction of the part 11b on the other side of the FFC are orthogonal to each other.
[0012]
The portion 11a on one side of the FFC can be regarded as the curved annular portion 11c from the insertion start portion into the first guide hole 12a, or can be regarded as the curved annular portion 11c from the portion passing through the first guide hole 12a. You can also. Similarly, the portion 11b on the other side of the FFC can be regarded as the curved annular portion 11c from the insertion start portion into the second guide hole 12b, or from the portion passing through the first guide hole 12a to the curved annular portion 11c. It can be regarded as.
Here, the flat FFC 11 having a front surface and a back surface is inserted / penetrated into the guide holes 12a and 12b with the same surface facing the same direction. That is, the surface directions of the respective FFCs inserted into the guide holes 12a and 12b are parallel to each other. Further, the FFC 11 is not twisted in the curved annular portion 11c. That is, the FFC 11 is not rotated by 180 ° or more around its axis in the curved annular portion 1c.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the holding member 12. FIG. 2A shows a state before the holding member 12 is assembled, and FIG. 2B shows a state after the holding member 12 is assembled. The holding member 12 is roughly composed of three members, an upper part 14, an intermediate part 13, and a lower part 15, each having a substantially rectangular plate shape. Linear grooves 14 a and 15 a are provided on the surfaces of the upper portion 14 and the lower portion 15 that face the intermediate portion 13. The first guide hole 12 a is defined by the inner surface of the groove portion 14 a of the upper portion 14 and the upper surface of the intermediate portion 13, and the second guide hole 12 b is defined by the groove portion 15 a of the lower portion 15 and the lower surface of the intermediate portion 13. The intermediate portion 13 is provided with engaging portions 13 a and 13 b for locking the upper portion 14 and the lower portion 15. The upper portion 14 and the lower portion 15 are also provided with engaging portions (not shown) corresponding to the engaging portions 13 a and 13 b of the intermediate portion 13. The lower part 15 is further provided with a clip 15b as means for fixing the holding member 12 to the vehicle body or the like.
[0014]
FIG. 3 shows how the FFC 11 is pulled in the FFC bending structure 10. Here, a state when the other side portion 11b of the FFC is pulled in the direction of the arrow X in the drawing is shown. As the portion 11b on the other side of the FFC is pulled in the direction of the arrow X in the figure, the size of the annular curved portion 11c decreases (the curvature of the curved annular portion 11c increases), and the curved annular portion 11c tends to increase in size. The stress (which tries to return to the original shape) acts.
[0015]
According to the FFC bending structure 10 as described above, there is no fear of a decrease in reliability of the FFC 11 such as generation of a crack from the fold because the bent portion of the FFC 11 is not creased. Further, the FFC 11 can be easily reused. Further, such an FFC bending structure 10 can be easily assembled, and productivity can be improved. And since the stress which tends to become large always acts on the curved annular part 11c by the elasticity of FFC11, this bending structure 10 of FFC can also have an effect | action as a surplus length absorption structure. That is, when the portion 11b on the other side of the FFC is pushed in the direction opposite to the arrow X direction in FIG. 3, the curved annular portion 11c is smoothly enlarged by the action of stress, and absorbs the extra length of the FFC 11. it can. Therefore, this embodiment can be suitably used to route the FFC 11 in a mechanism having a movable part such as a steering structure capable of adjusting the position. Further, the routing error of the FFC 11 can be absorbed by the curved annular portion 11c. Furthermore, sagging of the FFC 11 can be prevented by the curved annular portion 11c.
[0016]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an FFC bending structure according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the FFC bending structure 20, the extending direction of the one side portion 11 a of the FFC with respect to the holding member 22 and the extending direction of the other side portion 11 b of the FFC with respect to the holding member 22 are intersected. The angle (bending angle, direction change angle) is an acute angle θ. The holding member 22 includes guide holes 22a and 22b into which one end and the other end of the annular curved portion 11c are inserted and penetrated separately. The intersection angle between the axes of the guide holes 22a and 22b is an acute angle θ.
In the present invention, the allowable range of the bending angle of the flat circuit body is wide, and the bending angle may be an acute angle or an obtuse angle. Therefore, versatility is high.
[0017]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a bending structure of the FFC according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the FFC bending structure 30, the surface direction of the FFC on one side 11a with respect to the holding member 22 intersects the surface direction of the FFC on the other side 11b with respect to the holding member 22 (here). Is orthogonal).
Thus, the present invention allows a change in the surface direction of the flat circuit body. Therefore, versatility is high.
[0018]
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an FFC bending structure according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. This FFC bending structure 40 is not provided with a holding member, and is a long FFC 11 that is simply circular and redirected at a predetermined position in the longitudinal direction. The extending direction of the one side portion 11a of the FFC with respect to the curved annular portion 11c intersects the extending direction of the other side portion 11b of the FFC with respect to the curved annular portion 11c.
[0019]
According to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the curved annular portion 11c is movable. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the curved annular portion 11c is moved in the direction of the arrow X in the drawing along the extending direction of the portion 11b on the other side of the FFC, but is not limited to this. For example, the curved annular portion 11c is allowed to increase (the curvature decreases) with or without the movement of the curved annular portion 11c. That is, the curved annular portion 11c is allowed to move three-dimensionally.
[0020]
Such an FFC bending structure 40 has an extremely wide allowable range of the bending angle (direction changing angle) of the FFC 11. Further, it can be suitably used when the FFC 11 is routed to a mechanism having a movable part having a large movable range.
[0021]
In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A suitable deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible.
For example, the holding member can be movable by fixing the holding member to the movable portion. Further, the FFC may be twisted around its axis in the curved annular portion.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
With the holding member of the present invention as described above, the flat circuit body, fear of lowering reliability due to cracking or the like from the fold is not easily performed even reuse of the flat circuit body. Further, the curved annular portion, exerts even act as a surplus length absorbing structure, able absorption and of the installation error of the flat circuit member, also prevention of sagging.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an FFC bending structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a holding member.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an FFC bending structure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an FFC bending structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an FFC bending structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the fourth embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a view showing a bending structure of a conventional FPC.
[Explanation of symbols]
10, 20, 30, 40 FFC bending structure (flat circuit body bending structure)
11 FFC (Flat Circuit Body)
11c Curved annular portion 12, 22, 32 Holding member

Claims (2)

A holding member that holds the flat circuit body by arranging at a direction changing position of the flat circuit body that changes the direction by forming a curved annular portion,
A first guide hole having a flat cross-sectional shape larger than the cross-sectional shape of the flat circuit body, and through which the portion of the flat circuit body extending from one end of the curved annular portion is inserted;
A second guide hole having a flat cross-sectional shape larger than the cross-sectional shape of the flat circuit body, and through which the portion of the flat circuit body extending from the other end of the curved annular portion is inserted;
And a center line of the first guide hole and a center line of the second guide hole intersect each other inside the holding member. The flat circuit body holding member according to claim 1, wherein the flat circuit body is slidably inserted into the first guide hole or the second guide hole.

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