JPH0528482Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Purpose of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a steering wheel rotation detection device for detecting the rotation direction, rotation angle, etc. of a steering wheel of a vehicle or the like.

(Prior Art) A steering wheel rotation detection device is installed in a vehicle or the like in order to automatically turn off a turn lamp that is manually turned on before turning on a road when the turn is completed. The structure and operation of a conventional device of this type are shown in FIGS. 6 to 9. Reference numeral 1 denotes a substantially annular board fixedly arranged on a switch body attached to the upper end of the steering column, and on its top surface there is a clockwise rotating board arranged concentrically with respect to the steering shaft (not shown). A detection terminal 2 and a fixed contact 2a connected to this terminal 2, a counterclockwise rotation detection element 3 and a fixed terminal 3a connected to this terminal 3, a common terminal 4 and each of first and second fixed contacts 4a and 4b connected to this terminal 4. At the same time, an annular relay contact piece 5 is arranged inside each of these fixed contacts. In addition, each fixed contact, the relay contact piece 5, etc. are shown with diagonal lines in the figure for distinction. On the other hand, a rotating body 6 and a driven ring 7 are provided on the substrate 1 in an overlapping manner as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure. The rotating body 6 is removably engaged with the steering wheel and rotates integrally therewith, and after the rotating body 6 has rotated by a predetermined angle, the driven ring 7 rotates following the movement of the rotating body 6. A first movable contact 8 is fixed to the rotating body 6, and a second movable contact 9 is fixed to the driven ring 7, and these are arranged as shown in the figure with respect to the fixed contact group. There is. Both movable contacts 8 and 9 have forked tips, one of which is in constant contact with the relay contact piece 5.

Next, to explain the operation of the above device, when the vehicle is traveling straight, each movable contact occupies the position shown in FIG. 6, and the right and left rotation detection terminals 2 and 3 and the common terminal 4
The space between them is open. When the steering wheel is rotated, for example, to the right by a predetermined angle or more in order to change the direction of travel of the vehicle, the first and second
The movable contacts 8 and 9 are rotated in the direction of arrow A from the position shown in FIG. 6, and are displaced, for example, to the position shown in FIG. 7. In this case, all terminals are open. After this, when the vehicle's course change is completed and the steering wheel is returned to its original position, the driven ring 7
Due to the delayed rotation with respect to the rotating body 8, the angular interval between the first and second movable contacts 8, 9 becomes different from when the steering wheel is operated to change course. Therefore, counterclockwise rotation detection terminal 3 and common terminal 4
In the process of returning the steering wheel, the power is temporarily electrically connected as shown in FIG. 8, and the turn lamp can be turned off by this output. On the other hand, even when the steering wheel is rotated counterclockwise and then returned to its original position, the turn lamp can be turned off in the same manner by the output generated at the clockwise rotation detection terminal 3.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in passenger cars, there are cases where the user replaces the steering wheel with one of his/her preference. In this case, when the steering wheel is removed, the bottom side of the steering wheel and the rotating body 6
A pair of engaging parts and an engaged part, which are provided on the upper surface side so as to occupy symmetrical positions with respect to the center of rotation of the steering wheel, are disengaged, and when a new steering wheel is installed, they are disengaged again. will be engaged. However, when reinstalling such a steering wheel, the steering wheel may be connected to the rotating body 6 at a position where the rotating body 6 has rotated 180 degrees from its normal state. The contact positional relationship between the fixed contact group provided at 1 and the two movable contacts 8 and 9 attached to the rotary body 6 side is 180° deviated from the normal contact position and in the opposite direction. Then, in the conventional structure, even if the steering wheel is operated as shown in Fig. 8 in the normal connected state, the state shown in Fig. 9 will be reached, and the steering wheel will not be adjusted as shown in Fig. 9 after changing the course. During the return operation of the wheel, no return rotation detection signal is generated, and therefore the turn lamp cannot be turned off automatically.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and therefore, its object is to provide a steering wheel rotation detection device that operates normally even if the mounting relationship between the steering wheel and the rotating body is reversed.

[Structure of the invention] (Means for solving the problem) The steering wheel rotation detection device according to the invention includes a rotating body that is detachably connected to the steering wheel and rotates integrally with the steering wheel, and a rotating body that rotates integrally with the steering wheel. a driven ring that rotates following the rotation of the rotating body by a predetermined angle, first and second movable contacts provided on these rotating bodies and the driven ring, respectively, and an annular ring concentric with the steering shaft on a fixed base plate. The first and second
The fixed contact group is provided with a fixed contact group in which the movable contact of the steering wheel contacts and separates, and the fixed contact group is connected to a first It is characterized in that it is composed of a second unit fixed contact group.

(Function) When the steering wheel and the rotating body are in a regular connection relationship, one of the first and second unit fixed contact groups constituting the fixed contact group and the first and second movable contacts Rotation is detected based on the contact and separation of the When the connection between the steering wheel and the rotating body is reversed by 180°, the other unit fixed contact group is 180° relative to the one unit fixed contact group.
Since they are in shifted positions, the rotation of the steering wheel is normally detected based on the contact and separation between these and the first and second movable contacts.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. First, in FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the overall configuration of the rotation detection device, reference numeral 11 is a body made of, for example, plastic fixed to a steering column (not shown), and a body (not shown) extending through the inside of the steering column is provided in the center of the body. A hollow shaft cylinder portion 12 through which the steering shaft is inserted is integrally provided upright. An annular printed circuit board 13 is fixed to the body 11 so as to be located around the shaft cylinder portion 12.
3 is formed with a group of fixed contacts in a predetermined pattern, which will be described later, and terminals connected to each of these contacts by printed wiring means. 14 and 15 are a rotating body and a driven ring. The rotating body 14 is connected to the shaft cylinder portion 1 of the body 11.
2, and a flat container-shaped annular body 17 having a circular hole 17a in the center that also fits into the shaft tube 12. By relatively loosely engaging the engaging protrusion 16a with the recess 17b formed in the annular body 17, both can rotate together. The annular body 17 is the shaft cylinder portion 1 of the body 11.
2 so as to be rotatable relative to the cylindrical shaft portion 12, and is held in a non-slip state by a protrusion 12a protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical shaft portion 12. Further, a portion of the connecting cylinder 16 near the lower end is rotatably fitted into the shaft cylinder portion 12, and is prevented from coming off by a protrusion 12b provided at the upper end of the shaft cylinder portion 12. and,
The connecting cylinder 16 has one end side connected to the shaft cylinder part 1 in a state in which the engaging protrusion 16a is engaged with the recess 17b of the annular body 17.
2, so that the axial force acting on the shaft tube portion 12 toward the annular body 17 is received by the protrusion 12a. 18 is a pair of engagement pins protruding from the other end of the connecting cylinder 16;
This engages with a steering wheel (not shown) and rotates the connecting cylinder 16 and, in turn, the rotating body 14 in conjunction with the steering wheel. 19 is annular body 1
This bulge is formed by bulging a part of 7 inward over a predetermined angular area, and has a fan-shaped planar shape. On the other hand, the driven ring 15 has a generally annular shape as a whole, and is fitted into the shaft cylindrical portion 12 so as to be located within the annular body 17 that constitutes the rotating body 14, and is rotatable concentrically with the rotating body 14. It's summery.
This driven ring 15 is cut out in a wider angular area than the bulged part 19 of the annular body 17, so that a pair of abutting parts 15a and 15b are formed on both sides of the notch, which are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined angle. It is formed.
The driven ring 15 is housed in the rotating body 14 with the sliding ring 20 in between, so that they can rotate freely with respect to each other. In this housed state, the bulge 19 of the annular body 17
The contact portions 15a and 15b are located between the contact portions 15a and 15b. As a result, the rotating body 14 and the annular body 1
7 rotates by a predetermined angle, the driven ring 15 rotates following the rotating body 14. First and second movable contacts 22 and 23 are fixed at predetermined positions on the lower surface of the bulge 19 and the lower surface of the driven ring 15, respectively, of the annular body 17 constituting the rotating body 14, and the steering wheel As the rotating body 14 and the driven ring 15 rotate with the rotation of the wheel, both movable contacts 22 and 23 slide on the substrate 13.

Now, FIG. 1 shows the base plate 13, the driven ring 15, and the annular body 17.
4 is a clockwise rotation detection terminal, which has a fixed contact 24a.
and 24b are continuously formed as shown in the figure. Reference numeral 25 denotes a counterclockwise rotation detection terminal, on which fixed contacts 25a and 25b are continuously formed as shown. 26 is a common terminal, which has fixed contact 2.
6a to 26d are formed continuously as shown in the figure. Furthermore, an annular relay contact piece 27 is formed in the innermost peripheral area of the substrate 13. The fixed contacts 24a, 24b, and 25a are arranged in a dotted manner along with the terminals 24, 25, and 26 in an annular area concentric with the steering shaft by printed wiring means. 25b, 26a and 26c, 26b and 2
6d are arranged at 180° symmetrical positions with respect to the center of rotation of the steering wheel. As a result, fixed contacts 24a, 25a, 26c and 2
A first unit fixed contact group constituted by 6d,
The second unit fixed contact group composed of the fixed contacts 24b, 25b, 26a, and 26b occupies a positional relationship shifted by 180 degrees with respect to the rotation center of the steering wheel, and each unit fixed contact group is connected to each of the terminals. 24, 25 and 6 are electrically connected in parallel to each other. Further, the tips of the first and second movable contacts 22 and 23 are both divided into forked shapes, and the portion located on the inner circumference side of the divided tips of each contact 22 and 23 is as described above. It is in constant contact with the relay contact piece 27. It should be noted that each terminal, fixed contact group, etc. formed on the substrate 13 are shown with diagonal lines in the drawings for easy understanding.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. Now, the first and second movable contacts 22 for each fixed setting group,
It is assumed that the mutual positional relationship between the two wheels is as shown in FIG. 1, and the vehicle is traveling straight. here,
For example, when the steering wheel is rotated to the right, the driven ring 15 initially remains stationary due to the frictional resistance between the second movable contact 23 and the substrate 13, and only the rotating body 14 rotates around the steering wheel. It rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Then, the right side of the bulge 19 of the annular body 17 first comes into contact with the spring piece 21 of the driven ring 15, and the spring piece 2
After the force is weakened by the buffering action of 1, it abuts against the contact portion 15b via the spring piece 21. After this,
As the rotating body 14 further rotates, the spring piece 2
The driven ring 15 rotates following the rotation of the rotating body 14 while the driven ring 1 maintains an elastically deformed state (7th in the conventional example).
(see figure). When the rotor 14 and the driven ring 15 rotate with the bulge 19 of the rotor 14 in contact with the right-side contact portion 15b of the driven ring 15, both the first and second movable The contacts 22 and 23 continue to slide on the substrate 13 while maintaining a predetermined angular spacing. During this period, the clockwise rotation detection terminal 24 and the common terminal 26 are not electrically connected. After the steering wheel has been rotated by a predetermined angle, for example, 43° or more to change the vehicle's direction of travel, when the steering wheel is returned to its original position, the driven ring 15 is initially moved between the second movable contact 23 and the base plate 13. In order to maintain a stationary state due to frictional resistance, only the rotating body 14 rotates in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 1 in conjunction with the steering wheel. Then, this time, rotating body 1
The bulging part 19 of No. 4 is displaced to the collision part 15a side of the driven ring 15 opposite to the above case, and first comes into contact with the spring piece 21 of the driven ring 15, and due to the buffering action of the spring piece 21. After the momentum is weakened, the collision part 15a
comes into contact with. Thereafter, as the rotating body 14 further rotates, the driven ring 15 rotates following the rotation of the rotating body 14 while the spring piece 21 maintains its elastically deformed state. When the rotating body 14 and the driven ring 15 rotate in this manner, both the first and second movable contacts 22 and 23 have a different angular interval than when the steering wheel rotates to the right. In order to maintain and slide on the substrate 13,
During the return rotation, the state shown in FIG. 4 is temporarily established. In this state, the first movable contact 22
The fixed contact 25a constituting the unit fixed contact group and the relay contact piece 27 are electrically connected to each other, and the second movable contact 2
3 establishes conduction between the fixed contact 26d and the relay contact piece 27, which also constitute the first unit fixed contact group.
As a result, the counterclockwise rotation detection terminal 25 and the common terminal 26
The turn lamp can be automatically turned off based on this. Also,
Even when the steering wheel is rotated counterclockwise and then returned to its original position, the clockwise rotation detection terminal 24 and the common terminal 26 become electrically connected, as in the conventional device, and based on this, the turn lamp can be automatically turned off.

Next, suppose, for example, that the owner of the vehicle replaces the steering wheel, and at that time, the connection relationship between the steering wheel and the rotating body 14 deviates by 180 degrees from the original, normal installation state. In this case, the rotating body 14 and the first and second movable contacts 22 and 23 are arranged at a position deviated from the normal state by 180 degrees. Therefore, when the steering wheel is rotated to the right and then returned to the left, if the steering wheel is in a normal connected state, each of the first and second movable contacts 2
As mentioned above, the positions 2 and 23 are supposed to be in the state shown in FIG. 4, but they end up being at positions 180 degrees off from this. However, in this embodiment, the first and second unit fixed contact groups are in a positional relationship that is shifted by 180 degrees from each other, and in the state shown in FIG. Fixed contacts 25b and 26b, which constitute the second unit fixed contact group, are located at positions 180 degrees apart from the fixed contacts 25a and 25d (which constitute the first unit fixed contact group) that contributed to the is located. Moreover, each unit fixed contact group is electrically connected in parallel to each other. For this reason, the first and second movable contacts 22 and 23, which are in positions shifted by 180 degrees as shown in FIG. 5, come into contact with these fixed contacts 25b and 26b, resulting in the state shown in FIG. Similarly, left rotation detection terminal 25
A conductive state is established between the terminal and the common terminal 26. Furthermore, even when the steering wheel is rotated to the left and then returned to the right, the connection relationship between the rotating body 14 and the steering wheel is not in the normal state.
Even if they are shifted by 180 degrees, since the first and second unit fixed contact groups are at positions shifted by 180 degrees from each other,
Of course, the return rotation to the right can be detected normally.

Note that the above configuration is configured to detect the return rotation of the steering wheel after rotation, but by changing the configuration of each fixed contact and movable contact,
By changing the contact/separation state of these contacts as the steering wheel rotates, it is also possible to detect the rotation angle of the steering wheel.

[Effects of the invention] As is clear from the above explanation, according to the invention, the fixed contact groups are arranged in the first and second contact groups which are located 180° apart from each other and are electrically connected in parallel to each other.
Since it is composed of a group of unit fixed contacts, even if the steering wheel and the rotating body that transmits this rotation to the rotation of the movable contacts are connected 180 degrees apart, normal rotation detection can be guaranteed. play.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a plan view showing the base plate, driven ring, and annular body, and Figures 2 and 3 are a vertical sectional side view of the entire body and an exploded view. The perspective view, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 are plan views of the board for explaining the operation, respectively. And, Figures 6 to 9
Each figure is a plan view of a board for explaining the operation of a conventional steering wheel rotation detection device. In the figure, 14 is a rotating body, 15 is a driven ring, 16 is a connecting cylinder, 17 is an annular body, 22 is a first movable contact, 2
3 is a second movable contact; 24a, 25a, 26c, and 26d are fixed contacts forming a first unit fixed contact group; 24b, 25b, 26a, and 26b are fixed contacts forming a second unit fixed contact group, respectively. It is a point of contact.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A rotating body that detects the rotation of a steering wheel detachably attached to a steering shaft passing through a steering column, the rotating body being detachably connected to the steering wheel and rotating integrally therewith; and the rotating body. a driven ring that rotates following the rotation of the rotating body by a predetermined angle; first and second movable contacts provided on each of the rotating body and the driven ring; and among the fixedly arranged substrates, the steering shaft and a fixed contact group which is provided in a concentric annular area and where the first and second movable contacts come into contact and separate in accordance with the rotation angle of the steering wheel as the steering wheel rotates, the fixed contact group , a steering wheel rotation detection device comprising first and second unit fixed contact groups located at positions 180° apart from each other with respect to the center of rotation of the steering wheel and electrically connected in parallel to each other. .