JPH04244B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a holding device for an optical fiber barcode attached to a steering device.

(b) Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention For example, when attaching an optical information input/output device to a rotating member such as a steering wheel of a car, how do you use an optical fiber bar code (hereinafter simply referred to as an optical code)? ) is attached to the handle. That is, since the optical cord does not like excessive tension, twisting, or bending, wiring is required that will not cause such a situation even if one end of the optical cord fixed to the handle rotates together with the handle.

By the way, heretofore, there have been almost no cases in which an optical code is incorporated into a steering device, and therefore, there have been almost no proposals for an effective solution to the above-mentioned problem. However, in this case, the following two methods are generally considered as wiring methods. One of them is
One method is to first convert the optical signal into an electrical signal, and then guide this signal to the input/output device on the handle side via a known electrical connection rotary joint attached to the handle shaft. The method is to wrap the optical cord several times around the outer circumference with some slack.

However, the former method is not practical because it requires an optical/electrical converter, while the latter method tends to cause tangles in the optical cord, and the winding of the optical cord close to the fixed part on the handle side is difficult. The rotational force of the handle is transmitted to the outer circumference of the handle shaft, but it is difficult to transmit the rotational force of the handle to the wound part that is far from the fixed part.Therefore, the wound part close to the fixed part is tightly wound around the outer circumference of the handle shaft, causing excessive force to be applied there. The tension may be applied to the cord, or the bending radius of the cord may become very small, increasing optical transmission loss, and in the worst case, there is a high possibility that the cord will break.

(c) Means for solving the problems The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned problems that occur when wrapping an optical cord around the outer circumference of the steering shaft.
Several rotatable disks are coaxially arranged around the outer circumference of the steering shaft at predetermined intervals, and an optical fiber bar code, one end of which rotates with the steering shaft, is placed on each disk so that there is slack between each disk. This is an optical fiber bar code holding device that is fixed to the optical fiber bar code, and when this device is used, no excessive force is applied to the optical code. The reason will be explained later.

(d) Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the attached drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a handle, and 2 is a fixing member such as a vehicle body. A cylindrical shaft 4 supported by the fixing member 2 is loosely fitted onto the outer periphery of the handle shaft 3. In addition, several disks 5 are rotatably attached to the outer circumference of the cylindrical shaft 4 at predetermined intervals, such as through bearings, and optical cords 6 are inserted into holes drilled in the outer circumference of each disk. It is threaded so that there is slack between the discs. One end of this optical cord is introduced into the inside of the handle shaft through a hole provided in the handle shaft, and the other end is fixed to a member 2, etc., and the disc insertion portion of the cord 6 is inserted through a bushing 7, etc. held on a disc.

Note that the discs 5 may be directly attached to the handle shaft, and each disc 5 is preferably provided with locking claws 5a that engage with each other when the adjacent discs rotate one rotation relative to each other. .

Furthermore, covering the entire disc with the casing 8 is also effective in holding the optical code.

The holding device configured as described above moves the handle-side fixing part of the optical cord 6 (in the example device, the part inserted into the hole 3a is considered to be the fixing part) and the disc closest to this fixing part as the handle rotates. When a constant tension is applied to the cord 6 between the fixed parts on the 5n side, the disc 5
(n) rotates in the pulled direction to prevent further increase in tension, bending, and twisting of the optical cord, and
The rotation angle of the handle is large and discs 5(n) and 5
(n1) If the length of the cord is insufficient due to the slack between the discs, a constant tension is applied to the cord between the two discs, so disc 5 (n1) rotates to compensate for the short length of the cord. Since all the discs rotate in sequence, there is no possibility of excessive tension on the optical cord, bending beyond the allowable value, or
No more twisting.

In particular, if it is a disc with a locking pawl, for example,
The claw 5 of the disc 5(n) in the position shown in Fig. 3 before rotation.
When a(n) rotates a maximum of one rotation to the right or left, the claw 5a(n1) of the disk 5(n1) as shown in FIG.
After that, rotate the disk 5 (n1),
Furthermore, since rotational force is sequentially transmitted to the disc 5 (n1) by rotating the next disc, the handle can be attached to the rear disc without applying tension to the optical cord between each disc. Can transmit rotational force.

(e) Effects As explained above, the holding device of the present invention uses a rotating disk to cause the optical cord to follow the rotation of the handle shaft, so there is no need to apply excessive tension, bend, or twist to the optical cord. Without causing tangles, it is possible to incorporate optical cords into steering devices of automobiles and joints of robots, which have been in the spotlight recently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the optical fiber barcode holding device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the main parts thereof, and FIG.
A sectional view taken along the line, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the state after the disk has been rotated. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Handle, 3... Handle shaft, 4... Cylindrical shaft, 5... Disc, 5a... Locking claw, 6... Optical cord, 7... Butching, 8... Casing.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Several discs rotatable with respect to the steering shaft are arranged coaxially at predetermined intervals around the outer periphery of the steering shaft, and one end of the disc is provided with a light beam that rotates with the steering shaft. The fiber optic bar cord is lengthened so that there is slack between each disc, and the total amount of slack between each disc is sufficient to permit rotation of the fiber optic bar cord through rotation of the steering shaft over its full operating range. A holding device for an optical fiber bar code, characterized in that it is fixed so as not to move with respect to a disc by passing it through the fiber bar code. 2. The optical fiber bar code according to claim 1, wherein each of the discs is provided with locking claws that engage with each other when the adjacent discs are relatively rotated by a predetermined angle. holding device.