JPH0260882A - Device for electrically connecting steering wheel and steering column - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an electrically connecting device to be fitted in a prescribed position in its neutral condition by contriving the device so that the spirally wound condition of a spiral coil tape member which has been housed inside a housing case can be easily and quantitatively observed from the outside of the housing case. CONSTITUTION:A coil tape member is housed in a disklike housing case 10 consisting of an upper cover case 1 and a lower case 2. The inner end part and the outer end part of a spiral coil tape member 3 which has been housed in a housing case 10 are fixed to each one of printed boards 4a, 4b which have been retained in the housing case 10 respectively, so that the electric conductor embedded in the coil tape can be electrically connected to respective printed boards 4a, 4b. On the upper side of the upper cover case 1, a position indicating member 6 arranged in parallel with the upper surface of the upper cover case keeping a prescribed space is arranged so as to be opposite to projections 1g.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an electrical connection device between a steering wheel and a steering column in a vehicle steering device, and more particularly to a neutral position indicating device for the device.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a flexible spiral coil tape having a plurality of electrical conductors is generally used for electrical connection between a steering wheel and a steering column in a vehicle steering system. For example, this is the case as disclosed in Utility Model Application Publication No. 53-118243, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5L-66045, and the like. This is because the steering wheel is naturally rotatable relative to the steering column, and a switch installed on the steering wheel, such as a horn, transmits electrical signals to the fixed part of the steering column. This is because the electrical wiring must be devised to absorb the rotational movement of the The general configuration in conventional examples is that an external electrical signal line such as a switch provided on the steering wheel and the electrical conductor of the spiral coil tape are connected via a terminal member, and an electrical signal line on the steering column side is connected to the electrical conductor of the spiral coil tape. and the electrical conductor of the coil tape are electrically connected via a terminal member, so that the steering wheel side and the steering column side are electrically connected. Then, the coil tape is reduced in the radial direction.
By expanding, the coil tape absorbs the rotational movement of the handle. In an electrical connection device having such a configuration, there is a risk that the spiral coil tape itself may be cut. This is because, depending on the mounting state of the spiral coil tape stored in the storage case, the movement of the handle may not necessarily be completely absorbed by the coil tape. That is, the spiral coil tape is originally provided in order to absorb the rotation of the handle side with the coil tape. However, the number of spirals of this tape itself is finite, so when installing it into a vehicle, the difference in winding diameter of the coil tape should be set to neutral, the steering mechanism should also be set to the neutral position, and electrical connections should be made at predetermined positions. equipment must be installed. However, if the installation is incorrect, the difference in the winding diameter of the tape will be uneven, and the number of turns of the handle in one direction will be insufficient compared to the maximum rotation operation of the handle. Rotating the handle may cause the coil tape to break.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In other words, if the electrical connection device is installed with the coil tape in a neutral state, the above-mentioned problem will not occur, but it is quite difficult to visually recognize the neutral state of a spiral coil tape with a large number of turns. It's difficult. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connection device having a structure in which the spiral state of a spiral coil tape member stored in a storage case can be easily and quantitatively observed from outside the storage case. It is said that

[Means for solving the problem, and actions/effects] (Structure
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention was constructed as follows. That is, the electrical connection device of the present invention
A flexible conductor coil tape member formed in a spiral shape in order to relay and connect each electric signal between the column side and the handle side, and a coil tape member for storing the coil tape member.
The above-mentioned steering column is equipped with a storage case consisting of a lower case fixed to the steering column side and an upper case that rotates together with the steering wheel and is rotatable relative to the lower case.
It is designed to be installed between the column and the handle. Moreover, the movement direction of the projection is controlled by a projection formed in the upper case and protruding outward from the upper case, and a guide member disposed approximately parallel to the outer peripheral surface of the upper case and held on the steering column side. and a position indicating member guided and supported so that it can slide only in one direction intersecting with the
Furthermore, the facing surface of the position display member that faces the outer circumferential surface of the upper case is provided with a plurality of rows of transverse grooves in which the protrusions slide, and each of the transverse grooves is arranged in a predetermined direction with respect to the moving direction of the protrusions. The protrusions are formed to cross the position indicating member at an angle and at intervals equal to the amount of inclination of the protrusions along the moving direction. Note that the position indicating member can be placed in at least two positions depending on the positions of the projections formed on the upper case. That is, an arrangement perpendicular to the rotation center axis of the upper case and an arrangement parallel to the rotation center axis are possible. (Function) According to the above configuration, when the handle is rotated, the protrusion of the upper case that rotates together with the handle can slide and pass through the transverse groove formed in the position display member. Yes, it also rotates in a circular orbit. On the other hand, since the transverse groove forms a predetermined angle with respect to the moving direction of the protrusion, when the position indicating member passes through the protrusion or the groove and crosses the position indicating member, the position indicating member moves by the amount of inclination of the transverse groove. Then it becomes. Furthermore, since the pitch between adjacent transverse grooves is equal to this amount of movement, as the position indicating member moves, the entrances of the adjacent transverse grooves will be located on the trajectory of the protrusion, and the protrusion that has rotated once. can also pass through the adjacent transverse groove. Naturally, at this time as well, when the position display member is crossed, the position display member moves by the above-mentioned pitch. That is, the position indicating member is moved by a predetermined amount by the protrusion each time the handle rotates once. (Effect) Therefore, the neutral state of the spiral coil tape member, that is, the state in which the difference in winding diameter of the spirals is approximately equal, can be easily recognized visually by the position of the position indicating member.
It is easily possible to mount the electrical connection device in position in a neutral state. Therefore, problems such as malfunctioning rotation of the handle and cutting of the coil tape member can be prevented. By providing a position display piece on the position display member and providing a corresponding scale, it becomes possible to quantitatively and easily visually confirm the neutral state of the coil tape member.

【Example】

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. First, an electrical connection device according to an embodiment will be described in detail according to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the main part of the electrical connection device, FIG. 2.3 is a diagram showing the position display mechanism, FIG. 2 is a perspective view in the direction of the X arrow in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operating mechanism of position display. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 3 indicates a spiral coil tape member, and the coil tape member 3 includes an upper case 1 and a lower case 2.
It is housed in a roughly disc-shaped storage case IO. The upper lid case l includes a disc-shaped lid member If, a cylindrical boss member 1b formed in the center thereof as a coil tape winding shaft, and a connector protruding from the upper surface of the lid member 1f. A surrounding wall 1a and a pin 1e protruding toward the handle are integrally formed. Furthermore, the lid member I
A bottle-shaped projection 1g is formed at a predetermined position on the upper surface of f. A steering shaft passes through the boss member 1b for the winding shaft. An ill 1 c and a locking tab Id are formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the boss member 1b. The bottle le is adapted to fit into a pin hole formed in the handle side member, thereby allowing the upper lid case l and the handle to rotate together. On the other hand, the lower case 2 has a roughly U-shaped cross section, and is provided with a boss 2b in the center thereof, which has a hole through which the winding shaft boss member 1b passes, and is integrally formed with the bottom wall 2c. A connector surrounding wall 2a is formed. The lower case 2 is fixed to the steering column side member with screws 11. The boss member 1b of the upper lid case l is inserted into the hole of the boss 2b of the lower case 2, and the boss 2b of the lower case 2 is inserted into the hole of the boss 2b of the lower case 2.
and a groove IC formed in the boss member 1b of the upper lid case l engage with each other. The upper case 1 is prevented from being removed from the lower case 2 by a locking tab 1d following the groove 1c. In this way, the upper lid case 1 and the lower case 2 cooperate to form a storage case IO that stores the spiral coil tape member 3 having a constant height. On the other hand, the spiral coil tape member 3 housed in the storage case 1O has its inner end and outer end held in the storage case 1O, and one printed wiring board 4a, 4 each.
A conductor (not shown) embedded in the coil tape member 3 is fixed to each wiring board 4a,
It is designed to be electrically connected to 4b. The wiring boards 4a, 4b are provided at positions corresponding to the connector surrounding walls 1a, 2a, and a portion of the wiring boards 4a, 4b is connected to the outer cover case 1 and the lower case 2, respectively, as shown in the figure. It's penetrating towards it. Each protrusion has a corresponding connector surrounding wall 1a, 2
In cooperation with a, it becomes the female side terminal of the connector. Incidentally, above the upper lid case l, a position indicating member 6 is arranged approximately parallel to the upper surface of the upper lid case with a predetermined gap maintained therebetween, and is positioned so as to correspond to the formed pin-shaped protrusion 1g. . The position display member 6 is formed of a prismatic body, and is held by a guide member 5 that is fixed to the lower case 2 with screws 8 and slidably holds the position display member 6. This position display member 6 has a plurality of rows of transverse grooves 6a formed at equal intervals through which the pin-shaped projections 1g can pass. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the transverse grooves 6a is arranged toward the longitudinal direction of the position display member 6 and is inclined. Furthermore, the pitches between the grooves are set so that the slopes in the longitudinal direction are simply equal. In other words, the above projection tg
When the cross groove 6a passes through the position indicating member 6, the position indicating member 6 moves along its longitudinal direction by the amount of inclination. Furthermore, since the pitch between the grooves is equal to the amount of inclination, the protrusion can pass through the adjacent transverse groove 6a again after one revolution. Further, on the opposite side of the position display member 6 facing the cross section i%16a, there is a recess 6b so that the position display member 6 is elastically held in position by a spring member 7 provided in the guide member. Multiple pieces are formed. This spring member 7 allows the position display member 6 to be held in position when no external force is applied. ” Guide member 5 that slidably holds the bipedal position display member 6
As shown in FIG. 2, it has a shape in which a rectangular tube corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the position display member 6 and legs for supporting the tube on the lower case 2 are integrated. A position display member 6 is inserted into the cylinder. Further, the spring member 7 described above is a plate spring whose one end is configured in a U-shape,
The other end is held by the guide member 5. The spring member 7 is fixed by inserting the other end into a fixing portion 5d formed in the guide member 5. Further, a window 5b is formed at a corresponding position of the rectangular tube corresponding to the U-shaped tip so that the tip can fit into the recess 6b of the position display member 6. Further, the guide member 5 is provided with a notch 5C at a position corresponding to the trajectory of the protrusion 1g so that the pin-shaped protrusion 1g can pass through the guide member 5 when the upper lid case l rotates. It is being A horizontally elongated window 5a is provided along the longitudinal direction of the tube so that a position indicating piece 6c indicating the positional movement of the position indicating member 6 can protrude outward from the side wall of the tube. In addition, the above display piece 6C
A scale 9 is provided on the upper surface of the upper lid member 1f of the upper lid case l in correspondence with the above. According to the above configuration, the electric signal line on the steering wheel side is connected to the printed wiring board 4a, which is the female side terminal of the connector on the side of the upper lid case l, in one connector type, and similarly, the electric signal line on the steering column side is also connected to the connector one side. The rotating motion of the handle is transmitted to the spiral coil tape 3 member via the pin 1e. On the other hand, since the coil tape member 3 has flexibility, it changes its shape to follow and absorb the rotational movement of the handle. Therefore, even if the steering wheel rotates, the rotational movement is absorbed by the coil tape member 3, and the electric signal line on the steering wheel side and the electric signal line on the steering column side are connected via the coil tape member 3 without any interference. A relay connection will be made without any connection. On the other hand, if the position display member 6 is positioned so that the transverse groove 6a and the pin-shaped protrusion 1g can fit together, when the upper lid case l rotates together with the handle, the lower case 2 on the fixed side
The pin-shaped protrusion 1g comes to pass through the transverse groove 6a of the position display member 6 held in the position display member 6. Moreover, this transverse groove 6
Since a is inclined to the trajectory of protrusion 1g, protrusion 1g
When it has completely passed through the cross section p 6 a, the position display member 6 is moved by the amount of inclination. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, if the projection 1g (drawn by a solid line) located on the right side of the figure moves to the position shown by a broken line as the handle is rotated, the position indicating member 6 will move along its longitudinal direction. The position display member 6 can be pushed up by the amount of inclination along the direction. Further, the transverse grooves 6a are formed in a plurality of rows with bits equal to the above-mentioned inclination amount. Therefore, the transverse groove 6a and the protrusion 1g
If the protrusion 1g goes around once, the positional relationship will be as shown in the figure again. Incidentally, the same thing applies even if the protrusion 1g moves in the opposite direction. Therefore, the position display member 6 is provided with a position display piece 6c,
If a scale 9 corresponding to this is provided on the upper surface of the upstream case 1, it becomes easier to quantitatively capture changes in the spiral state of the spiral coil tape member 3. In other words, once the position display member 6 is installed so that the display piece 6c is located at the center of the scale 9 when the coil tape member 3 is in the neutral state, even if the upper cover case l is subsequently rotated, the coil The tape member 3 can be easily returned to the neutral position via the scale 9 and the display piece 6c. In this way, the coil tape member 3 inside the storage case
Since the spiral state of the coil tape 3 can be visually confirmed from the outside of the case, correct setting between the steering mechanism and the electrical connection device is easily possible. Cutting or obstruction of handle rotation can be effectively prevented. By the way, FIG. 4 shows a modification of the above embodiment in which the position display member is arranged on the side of the storage case. In this modification, the position display member and the guide member for holding the same in the lower case are the same as those of the above embodiment in terms of their main parts. However, the only difference is the configuration of the storage case due to its layout. Briefly explaining the configuration of this modification, the coil tape member 33 is stored in the storage case 20.
is composed of an upper case 21 and a lower lid case 22. The disc-shaped lower lid case 22 includes a guide member 25 that slidably holds the position display member 26, and an upper case 2 that is provided with a boss member 21b that serves as a winding shaft for the coil tape member 33 in the center.
A hole for rotatably supporting 1 is provided. The upper case 21 is a disc-shaped case with an opening-shaped cross section, and is integrally provided with the boss member 21b in the center thereof. The boss 21b is provided with a hole through which the steering shaft passes, and a projection 21 for transmitting rotation of the steering shaft to the upper case 21.
E is provided. Further, the upper case 21 has a tip end 21d of the boss member 21b inserted into the center hole of the lower lid case 22, and is rotatably attached to the lower lid case 22 with a well-known locking structure.
It is locked to. Furthermore, the peripheral wall 21c of the upper case 21
is provided with a pin-shaped protrusion 21g projecting outward in the radial direction, and the protrusion 21g can slide through the transverse groove 26a of the position display member 26, as in the previous embodiment. There is. Note that 21a indicates the upper bottom wall of the upper case 21. In the figure, 27 indicates a spring member that elastically holds the position indicating member 26 in position, and 26b indicates a recess into which the tip of the spring member 27 fits. Further, 25b is a window provided in the guide member 25 so that the tip can fit into the recess 26b, and 25c is a cutout that is made so that the protrusion 21g can cross the guide member 25. Indicate each flaw. Although the connection structure between the coil tape member 33 and the external electric signal line is not shown in the figure, the connection is made in a predetermined configuration. In this modification, when the upper case 21 rotates, the position display member 26 moves up and down in the figure. Therefore, similarly to the embodiment described above, it is possible to quantitatively grasp the spiral state of the coil tape member 33 using the display piece provided on the position display member 26 and the corresponding scale (both not shown). become. In other words, this modified example shows one variation regarding the arrangement of the position display member.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show an electrical connection device between a steering wheel and a steering column according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 1 to 3 show the embodiment, and FIG. 4 shows a modification thereof, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part of the electrical connection device, FIG. 2 is a perspective view taken in the direction of the X arrow in FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of such an electrical connection device. l...Top lid case, Ia, 2a...Connector surrounding wall, Ib, 21b...Boss member, Ic...Groove, 1
d... Locking tab, 1e... Bottle, 1f... Lid member, 1g, 21g... Pin-shaped projection, 2... Lower case, 2
b... Boss, 3... Coil tape member, 4 a, 4
b...Printed wiring board, 5.25...Guide member, 5a, 5b, 25b-window, 5c, 25c-notch, 5d...fixing part, 6, 26...position display member, 6
a, 26 a・[% groove, 6b, 26b...concavity, 6
c...Position display piece, 7.27...Spring member, ]11.
...His, 9...Scale, In, 20...Storage case, 21...Upper case, 22...Lower lid case. Patent applicant: Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho Co., Ltd. (1 person) Representative patent attorney: Aohaku Ao (1 person) Figure 3 IIJ Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A conductive coil tape member (3; 33) having flexibility and formed in a spiral shape;
Lower case (2; 2) fixed to the steering column side
2) and a storage case (10; 20) consisting of an upper case (1; 21) that rotates with the steering wheel and is rotatable with respect to the lower case (2; 22), and the steering column side and the steering wheel An electrical connection device installed between the steering column and the steering wheel for relaying electrical signals to and from the upper case (1; 21) is formed in the upper case (1; 21).
The protrusion (1g; 21g) protruding outward of the upper case (1; 21) is arranged approximately parallel to the outer peripheral surface of the upper case (1; 21),
In addition, a position indicating member (6; 26) is guided and supported by a guide member (5, 25) held on the steering column side so that it can slide only in one direction intersecting the moving direction of the projection (1g; 21g). ), the plurality of projections (1g; 21g) sliding on the opposing surface (6d; 26d) of the position display member (6; 26) facing the outer peripheral surface of the upper case (1; 21); Column transverse groove (6
a; 26a), and each of the above-mentioned transverse grooves (6; 26) has the above-mentioned protrusion (1g; 21g
) crosses the position indicating member (6; 26) at a predetermined angle with respect to the moving direction of the protrusion (1g; 2).
An electrical connection device between a steering wheel and a steering column, characterized in that the electrical connection device is formed at intervals equal to the amount of inclination along the direction of movement of 1g).