JP6429150B2 - Connection structure and connection method between cable outer and terminal member, and control cable - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a control cable used for transmitting operating force and driving force in an automobile or the like.

  In the control cable terminal member assembly structure described in Patent Literature 1 described below, the terminal of the outer casing (cable outer) is inserted inside the terminal member formed in a cylindrical shape from resin. The cable outer is provided with a coil formed by winding a steel wire closely in a spiral shape into a cylindrical shape, and the end of the steel wire is a protruding portion protruding outward from the surface of the coil. This protrusion engages with an engagement hole formed on the inner peripheral surface of the terminal member. Thereby, a cable outer and a terminal member are combined.

JP 2011-27240 A

  Incidentally, some cable outers of the control cable do not include a rigid cylindrical portion (hereinafter referred to as “rigid portion”) such as the above-described coil. Examples of a method for connecting such a cable outer and a resin-made terminal member include ring caulking, pin caulking, and ultrasonic welding.

  That is, in the ring caulking, the terminal member is caulked to the end of the cable outer by a metal ring attached to the outer periphery of the end member, but the cable outer that is not provided with a rigid body endures the radial pressing force by caulking. I can't. For this reason, problems such as insufficient pullout strength between the cable outer and the terminal member, and the inner diameter of the cable outer being crushed arise.

  Moreover, in pin caulking, a convex part is formed in the inner peripheral part of the terminal member by pressing and deforming a part of the terminal member in the radial direction with a caulking pin, and the convex part bites into the outer peripheral part of the cable outer However, the cable outer that does not include the rigid body portion cannot withstand the pressing force in the radial direction due to pin caulking. For this reason, the same problem as ring caulking occurs.

  In addition, in ultrasonic welding, if the outer layer of the cable outer and the terminal member are the same type of resin, they can be combined without any problem, but if both are different types of resins, the resins of each other do not melt together, Both cannot be combined.

  In consideration of the above facts, the present invention suppresses the influence on the inner diameter of the cable outer, even when the cable outer does not have a rigid portion and the outer layer of the cable outer and the terminal member are made of different types of resins. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a connecting structure and a connecting method between a cable outer and a terminal member, and a control cable that can satisfactorily connect the cable outer and the terminal member.

The connection structure between the cable outer and the terminal member according to the invention described in claim 1 is a cable outer in which at least the outer layer is formed of a resin , and the outer layer is a different type of resin and is fused with the outer layer by heat. A terminal member that is formed in a cylindrical shape with no resin and into which the terminal of the cable outer is inserted, and the terminal member and the outer layer of the terminal are softened in a state that is at least partially softened by heat As a result of caulking on the part, the convex portion that has bitten into the outer layer is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the terminal member.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, a cable outer terminal having at least an outer layer formed of resin is inserted inside a terminal member formed in a cylindrical shape from a different kind of resin from the outer layer. On the inner peripheral portion of the terminal member, a convex portion that bites into the outer layer of the terminal is formed. The convex portion is formed by caulking the softened portion in a state where the terminal member and the outer layer of the terminal are partially softened by heat. Thus, since caulking is performed hot, even when the cable outer is not provided with a rigid body portion, the influence on the inner diameter of the cable outer can be suppressed. Moreover, since the convex portion of the terminal member bites into the outer layer of the end of the cable outer, the outer layer and the terminal member are made of different types of resin, and the cable outer and the terminal member are good even when they do not melt together Can be combined.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for connecting the cable outer and the terminal member, wherein at least the outer terminal of the cable outer formed of a resin is a resin of a different type from the outer layer and is heated with the outer layer. An insertion step of inserting into the inside of a terminal member formed in a cylindrical shape by a resin that does not melt, and a portion that is softened in a state in which the terminal member and the outer layer of the terminal are at least partially softened And a caulking step of forming a convex portion that bites into the outer layer on the inner peripheral portion of the terminal member.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in the insertion step, first, the outer terminal of the cable whose outer layer is formed of resin is inserted into the inner side of the terminal member that is formed into a cylindrical shape using a different kind of resin from the outer layer. The Next, in the coking process, the terminal member and the outer layer of the terminal are partially softened, and the softened portion is subjected to coking. Thereby, the convex part digging into the outer layer of the terminal is formed on the inner peripheral part of the terminal member. Thus, since caulking is performed hot, even when the cable outer is not provided with a rigid body portion, the influence on the inner diameter of the cable outer can be suppressed. Moreover, since the convex portion of the terminal member bites into the outer layer of the cable outer terminal, the outer layer and the terminal member are made of different types of resin, and even when the two do not melt together, the cable outer and the terminal member are bonded well. can do.

  A control cable according to a third aspect of the invention includes the cable outer and the terminal member according to the first aspect, and an inner cable inserted into the cable outer.

  In the invention according to claim 3, the terminal member is coupled to the end of the cable outer into which the inner cable is inserted. Since these cable outer and terminal members are those described in claim 1, the above-described effects are exhibited.

  As described above, in the connecting structure and connecting method between the cable outer and the terminal member and the control cable according to the present invention, the cable outer does not have a rigid body portion, and the outer layer of the cable outer and the terminal member are different from each other. Even in this case, the cable outer and the terminal member can be satisfactorily coupled while suppressing the influence on the inner diameter of the cable outer.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the terminal periphery of the control cable which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of a cable outer (TPR outer) with which a control cable concerning an embodiment of the present invention is provided. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the terminal periphery of the control cable which concerns on a 1st comparative example. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the terminal periphery of the control cable which concerns on a 2nd comparative example.

  Hereinafter, the connecting structure and connecting method of the cable outer and the terminal member and the control cable according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Control cable configuration)
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a partial configuration of a control cable 10 according to the present embodiment. This control cable 10 is applied for transmission of operating force or driving force in an automobile, for example. Application examples of the control cable 10 include a sunroof opening / closing cable, seat cable, window opening / closing cable, parking brake cable, trunk open cable, fuel open cable, bonnet cable, key lock cable, heater adjustment cable, auto irregular cable, throttle cable. And an accelerator cable.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control cable 10 includes a cable outer (outer casing) 12, a terminal member 16 coupled (fixed) to a terminal 12 </ b> A of the cable outer 12, and a slide in the cable outer 12. The inner cable 14 is inserted (inserted).

  The cable outer 12 according to the present embodiment is referred to as a TPR outer, and covers the liner 18 that is an inner layer (inner resin layer) and the outer periphery of the liner 18 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The outer coat 20 is an outer layer (outer resin layer), and a plurality of metal wires 22 embedded in the outer coat 20. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, you may make it the structure by which the outer periphery of the outercoat 20 was further coat | covered with protective resin etc. which are called a protector.

  The liner 18 is formed in a tubular shape by extrusion molding of a thermoplastic resin, and the inner cable 14 is slidably inserted inside. Examples of the resin constituting the liner 18 include 66 nylon, 6 nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, polyoxymethylene, polymethylpentene, polypropylene, and high density polyethylene.

  The outer coat 20 is formed into a tubular shape by extruding a different type of thermoplastic resin from the liner 18 around the outer periphery of the liner 18. Examples of the resin constituting the outer coat 20 include soft vinyl chloride, polyethylene-based resin, polypropylene-based resin, polyoxymethylene, styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer as thermoplastic elastomer, urethane-based thermoplastic elastomer, ester-based thermoplastic elastomer, Examples thereof include polyethylene-based thermoplastic elastomers, olefin-based thermoplastic elastomers in which EPDM and ethylene-propylene copolymers are dispersed.

  The plurality of metal wires 22 are embedded in the outer coat 20 along the axial direction. Examples of these metal wires 22 include hard steel wires, mild steel wires, and stainless steel wires. For example, these metal wires 22 are inserted into a die of an extrusion molding machine together with a liner 18 that has been molded in advance. Then, the outer coat 20 in which the plurality of metal wires 22 are embedded is formed by extruding the resin to the outer periphery of the liner 18 while feeding the liner 18 and the plurality of metal wires 22 from the die. In addition, in FIG. 2, although the example with two metal wires 22 is shown, the number of the metal wires 22 is not limited to two, For example, three may be sufficient.

  The terminal member 16 is formed by injection molding, for example, and is formed in a cylindrical shape from a thermoplastic resin of a different type from the outer coat 20. Examples of the resin constituting the terminal member 16 include polyamide, polyacetal, polybutylene terephthalate, and the like. The terminal member 16 has an outer fixing portion 23 that fixes the cable outer 12 at one end side (base end side) in the axial direction. An annular groove 24 for locking the terminal member 16 to a U-groove formed in the bracket on the vehicle body side is formed at an intermediate portion in the axial direction of the terminal member 16. A tapered surface 26 having a smaller diameter toward the tip of the terminal member 16 is formed on the other end side (tip side) in the axial direction of the terminal member 16.

  The inner circumferential portion of the terminal member 16 has a large-diameter portion 28 at one end in the axial direction and a small-diameter portion 30 at the other end in the axial direction. A step 32 is provided between the large-diameter portion 28 and the small-diameter portion 30. Is formed. The inner diameter of the large diameter portion 28 is set to be equal to the outer diameter of the outer coat 20. A terminal 12 </ b> A of the cable outer 12 is inserted into the large diameter portion 28, and the end surface of the cable outer 12 is in contact with the stepped portion 32. The inner diameter of the small diameter portion 30 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the liner 18 so that the inner cable 14 inserted in the liner 18 can be inserted. The terminal 12A of the cable outer 12 inserted into the large-diameter portion 28 is coupled to the terminal member 16 by the following coupling structure.

(Connection structure between cable outer and terminal member)
On the inner peripheral portion of the large-diameter portion 28 of the terminal member 16, a convex portion 34 protruding toward the central axis side of the terminal member 16 is formed. The convex portion 34 bites into the outer coat 20 of the terminal 12 </ b> A inserted into the large diameter portion 28. Accordingly, the cable outer 12 is coupled to the terminal member 16, and relative movement between the cable outer 12 and the terminal member 16 in the axial direction and the circumferential direction is restricted.

  The convex portion 34 is formed by applying pin caulking to the softened portion in a state where the outer coat 20 of the terminal 12A and the terminal member 16 are partially softened (plasticized) by heat. Is. That is, the cable outer 12 and the terminal member 16 are coupled (fixed) by hot pin coking. For this reason, the terminal member 16 has a configuration in which at least a part of the convex portion 34 and its peripheral portion is solidified after being melted by the heat. Similarly, the outer coat 20 has a configuration in which at least a part of the concave portion into which the convex portion 34 has sunk and its peripheral portion is solidified after being melted by the heat. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the terminal member 16 is formed with a hole (concave portion) 36 at a portion that is pressed and deformed by a caulking pin. That is, in this embodiment, the terminal member 16 has a mark (concave portion) on which the caulking has been performed, and the contact portion between the terminal member 16 and the outer coat 20 has a portion that is melted during caulking and then solidified. Exists. Hereinafter, a method of connecting the cable outer 12 and the terminal member 16 will be described.

(Method of connecting the cable outer and the terminal member)
When connecting the cable outer 12 and the terminal member 16, first, the terminal 12 </ b> A of the cable outer 12 is inserted inside the large-diameter portion 28 of the terminal member 16 in the insertion step. Next, in the caulking process, the terminal member 16 and the outer coat 20 of the terminal 12A are partially softened by an ultrasonic welder (not shown), and the ultrasonic welder is applied to the softened portion. Horn 38 (only part of which is shown in FIG. 1) is subjected to pin coking. Thereby, the convex part 34 which bites into the outer coat 20 of the terminal 12 </ b> A is formed on the inner peripheral part of the terminal member 16.

  That is, in this embodiment, the horn 38 of the ultrasonic welder also has a function as a caulking pin, and performs pin coking while oscillating ultrasonic waves from the horn 38. Specifically, the tip (lower end) of the horn 38 is brought into contact with the outer periphery of the terminal member 16 in which the terminal 12 </ b> A of the cable outer 12 is inserted, and ultrasonic waves are oscillated from the horn 38. The vibration caused by the ultrasonic waves generates frictional heat on each contact surface between the terminal member 16 and the outer coat 20 and partially softens the hardness of the terminal member 16 and the outer coat 20. In this state, the softened portion is pressed by the horn 38 toward the central axis of the terminal member 16, the protrusion 34 is protruded from the inner peripheral portion of the terminal member 16, and the protrusion 34 is used as the outer coat of the terminal 12A. Bite into 20. As a result, the cable outer 12 and the terminal member 16 are coupled (fixed).

(Function and effect)
Next, the operation and effect of the present invention will be described.
In this embodiment, the terminal 12 </ b> A of the cable outer 12 in which the outer coat 20 is made of resin is inserted inside the terminal member 16 that is formed in a cylindrical shape by a different type of resin from the outer coat 20. A convex portion 34 that bites into the outer coat 20 is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the terminal member 16. The convex portion 34 is formed by subjecting the softened portion to pin caulking in a state where the terminal member 16 and the outer coat 20 are partially softened by heat. Thus, since pin coking is performed hot, even when the cable outer 12 does not include a rigid body portion such as a coil (metal winding), the influence on the inner diameter of the cable outer 12 is minimized ( The inner diameter is not deformed).

  The above effect will be supplemented by using the control cable 40 according to the first comparative example shown in FIG. 3 and the control cable 50 according to the second comparative example shown in FIG. 3 and 4, the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations as those of the present embodiment. In the control cable 40 according to the first comparative example, the cable outer 42 is a so-called winding outer. In the cable outer 42, a metal winding 44 is interposed between the liner 18 and the outer coat 20, and the terminal member 16 is fixed to the terminal 42 </ b> A of the cable outer 42 by caulking of the metal ring 46. In this control cable 40, the metal winding 44 is a rigid body, and the inner diameter of the liner 18 is not crushed by the radial pressing force caused by caulking the metal ring 46. However, the control cable 40 has a problem such as a large mass because the cable outer 42 includes the metal winding 44.

  On the other hand, in the control cable 50 according to the second comparative example, the cable outer 12 is not provided with a rigid body portion such as the metal winding 44 as in the present embodiment, but by cold pin coking. The terminal member 16 and the cable outer 12 are combined. At the time of cold pin coking, the stress applied to the caulking pin becomes high, so plastic deformation also occurs in a part of the liner 18 and the inner diameter of the liner 18 becomes narrow. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the protruding portion 52 is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the liner 18, and the protruding portion 52 interferes with the inner cable 14, which may hinder the function as the control cable. .

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, since pin coking is performed hot as described above, the stress applied to the coking pin (here, the horn 38) during coking is reduced. As a result, the cable outer 12 and the terminal member 16 can be coupled while minimizing the influence on the inner diameter of the liner 18. Moreover, since the convex portion 34 of the terminal member 16 bites into the outer coat 20 of the terminal 12A, even if the outer coat 20 and the terminal member 16 are made of different resins and the two do not melt together, the cable outer 12 And the terminal member 16 can be satisfactorily bonded. That is, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to bond different resin parts that cannot be bonded by ultrasonic welding.

  In the present embodiment, the cable outer 12 has a two-layer structure of the outer coat 20 and the liner 18. For this reason, even when a soft resin is used as the material of the outer coat 20, for example, the dimensional accuracy can be secured by the liner 18. This makes it possible to achieve both the slidability of the inner cable 14 inserted into the cable outer 12 and the routeability of the cable outer 12.

(Supplementary explanation of the embodiment)
In addition, in the said embodiment, although it was set as the structure by which caulking is given to one place of the terminal member 16, the invention which concerns on Claims 1-3 is not restricted to this. For example, in the terminal member 16, a plurality of portions arranged in the circumferential direction, a plurality of portions arranged in the axial direction, or a plurality of portions arranged in a direction inclined with respect to the circumferential direction and the axial direction are configured to be caulked. Good.

  Moreover, the cross-sectional shape of the horn 38 used as a caulking pin is not limited to a round shape and can be changed as appropriate. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the horn 38 may be set to an elliptical shape or a polygonal shape. Moreover, the shape of the site | part which contact | connects the terminal member 16 in the horn 38 is not restricted to a pin shape, It can change suitably. For example, the portion of the horn 38 that contacts the terminal member 16 may be configured in a ring shape or an arc shape that extends in the circumferential direction of the terminal member 16.

  Moreover, although the case where the cable outer 12 is what is called a TPR outer was demonstrated in the said embodiment, the invention which concerns on Claims 1-3 is not restricted to this, As for the cable outer, at least the outer layer was formed with resin. Anything is acceptable. For example, a steel rod outer having a structure in which a plurality of metal wires are embedded in the axial direction in a tubular body made of a single resin layer, and a large number of metal wires are spirally wound around the outer periphery of a tubular liner at a loose pitch. The shield wire layer is formed and the shield wire layer is covered with the outer resin layer (outer layer), or the outer layer of the resin, or the outer resin layer made of a resin tubular body reinforced with short fibers or the like. The present invention can be applied. Further, the present invention may be applied to the above-described winding outer (see FIG. 3). Thereby, the metal ring 46 can be omitted.

  Furthermore, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where coking was performed using the horn 38 of an ultrasonic welder, the invention which concerns on Claim 1 is not restricted to this. That is, for example, in a state where the outer layer of the cable outer and the terminal member are softened in the thermostat, the caulking is performed on the softened portion by a small press installed in the thermostat. Also good.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that the scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

10 Control Cable 12 Cable Outer 12A Terminal 14 Inner Cable 16 Terminal Member 18 Liner 20 Outer Coat (Outer Layer)
34 Convex 38 Horn

Claims (3)

A cable outer having at least an outer layer formed of a resin;
A terminal member that is a different type of resin from the outer layer and is formed into a cylindrical shape by a resin that does not melt with the outer layer due to heat, and the end of the cable outer is inserted inside,
With
When the terminal member and the outer layer of the terminal are at least partially softened by heat, the softened portion is subjected to caulking so that the convex portion that bites into the outer layer is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the terminal member. Connection structure of formed cable outer and terminal member. An insertion step of inserting a cable outer end having at least an outer layer made of resin into an inner end of a terminal member formed of a resin different from the outer layer and made of resin that does not melt with heat. When,
In a state where the terminal member and the outer layer of the terminal are at least partially softened, a caulking is applied to the softened portion, and a convex portion that bites into the outer layer is an inner peripheral portion of the terminal member. A coking process to be formed into,
A method of joining a cable outer member having a terminal and a terminal member. A cable outer and a terminal member according to claim 1;
An inner cable inserted into the cable outer;
Control cable with