JPH06196237A - Connector device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize the constitution of a device. CONSTITUTION:A winding member 1 winds a flat cable 7 from a winding core 6 when the flat cable 7 wound on the winding member 1 is set to the fastening state. The flat cable 7 is wound on the winding core 6 when the flat cable 7 wound on the winding member 1 is set to the releasing state. A connection section between the winding member 1 and the flat cable 7 is not reversed when the steering is set to either the right or left rotation, no special reversing connection structure is required, the flat cable 7 is shortened, and a device can be miniaturized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector device, for example, a connector device for electrically connecting a rotary shaft and a fixed side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, as a connector device used in a vehicle steering system, one end of a flat cable 31 is attached to a fixed end portion 32 and the other end is attached to a rotating end portion 33. There is one in which the flat cable 31 is wound a plurality of times around the fixed end portion 32 (for example, JP-A-4-19980).

Then, by adopting the above configuration,
The length of the flat cable 31 is remarkably shortened with respect to the required number of rotations so that the flat cable 31 is wound around the rotating body 34 regardless of whether the steering shaft rotates left or right.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional device, the flat cable 31 is wound around the rotating body 34 regardless of whether the steering shaft is rotated left or right. In order to prevent damage (buckling) at the root of the cable 31, the thickness of the metal foil of the flat cable 31 is 10
A radius of curvature more than twice the side walls 33a, 33 of the rotating end 33
It is necessary to adopt the special inversion coupling structure set in b.

However, in this case, since the axial distance to the rotating body 34 becomes large, the length of the flat cable 31 to the rotating body 34 becomes long, and the size of the connector device becomes large.

Further, since the flat cable 31 is reversed in the space inside the case 35 having the rotating body 34 in accordance with the left and right rotation of the steering shaft, a wide space is required inside the case 35. Further, there is a problem that the physical size of the connector device is increased.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector device capable of reducing the size of the device.

[0008]

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided a winding member, a first case for rotatably supporting the winding member, a second case having a winding core, and one end. A flexible cable having the other end fixed to the winding core and being wound a plurality of times around the winding core, wherein the winding member is the winding member. The flexible cable wound on the winding member is put in a tightened state to wind the flexible cable from the winding core and the flexible cable wound on the winding member. By adopting a connector device, the flexible cable is wound around the winding core by setting it in a loosened state.

[0009]

With the above structure, the winding member winds the flexible cable wound around the winding member into the tightened state to wind the flexible cable from the winding core, and at the same time, the winding member. The flexible cable wound around is wound into a loose state to wind the flexible cable around the winding core.

Therefore, no matter whether the winding member is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, the connecting portion between the winding member and the flexible cable is not inverted. Does not require a space for reversing operation, and has an excellent effect that the flexible cable can be shortened and the size of the device can be reduced.

[0011]

The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a connector device that connects an airbag device, which is an occupant protection device, and a collision detection device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a connector device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example in which the connector device is mounted on a steering wheel of a vehicle. In FIG. 2, the steering shaft 20 housed in the housing 21.
Has a steering wheel 22 attached to its end and a winding member 1 of the connector device 100 attached to its periphery.
When the steering wheel 22 is operated, the winding member 1 mounted around the steering shaft 20 rotates.

Inside the steering wheel 22, an air bag 24 stored under a pad 25, an ignition device, a transfer agent, a gas generating agent, etc. are used to generate gas for inflating the air bag 24 in the event of a vehicle collision. And an inflator 23 which is a container. And, this inflator 23 is
It is electrically connected to the connector device 100 via the first connection cable 8 for connecting the airbag and the first connection terminal 10.

The connector device 100 having the flat cable 7 is provided with a second connection cable 9 for circuit connection and a second connection terminal, and is electrically connected to a collision detection device (not shown). Then, the collision detection device and the inflator 23 are electrically connected by the first and second connection cables, the first and second connection terminals, and the flat cable 7.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. In FIG. 2, when a collision of the vehicle is detected by the collision detection device, the collision signal generated by the collision detection is transmitted through the second connection cable 9, the connector device 100 and the first connection cable 8 to the inflator. 23. Then, the inflator 23 generates gas in response to the input of the collision signal, and the air bag 24 into which the gas has flowed in pierces the pad 25 and inflates, thereby protecting the driver from a vehicle collision.

Next, details of the connector device 100 according to the present invention will be described. 1A is a horizontal sectional view of the connector device 100, and FIG. 1B is a connector device 10.
It is a vertical sectional view of 0.

1 and 2, the connector device 1
00 is a winding member 1 which is fixed to the steering shaft 20 and rotates with the operation of the steering wheel 22,
A first case 2, which has a smooth inner peripheral surface and is provided around the winding member 1 at a predetermined interval, a flat cable 7, and the flat cable 7 is wound.
The winding core 6 fitted or integrally formed with the case 3 of
And a second case 3, which is provided around the winding core 6 at a predetermined interval and has a smooth inner peripheral surface, and the cable outlets of the first case 2 and the second case 3 are connected to each other. To this end, the cable passage 5 is provided with the walls 4 on both sides.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the winding core 6
Has a smaller diameter than the winding member 1,
The distance between the outer peripheral surface of the winding core 6 and the inner peripheral surface of the second case 3 is equal to that of the flat cable 7 wound around the winding core 6 a plurality of times.
Is relatively large so that it can be loosened or tightened around the winding core 6. On the other hand, the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the winding member 1 and the inner peripheral surface of the first case 2 ensures that the flat cable 7 wound around the winding member 1 does not spread when unwinding when the second Case 3
It is relatively small so that it can be sent to the side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the flat cable 7 includes two flat conductors 7a and the conductors 7a.
It is composed of a synthetic resin insulator 7b formed in a flat plate shape so as to cover the periphery of a. One end of the flat cable 7 is electrically connected to the winding member 1 and the other end is electrically connected to and fixed to the winding core 6, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the steering member 22 is arranged so that it remains about one turn around the winding member 1 with the steering wheel 22 turned fully counterclockwise. The conductor 7a is not limited to two.

One end of the first connection cable 8 is electrically connected and fixed to the first connection terminal, the other end is connected to the winding member 1, and one end of the second connection cable 9 is connected to the second connection terminal. ,
The other end is electrically connected and fixed to the winding core 6.

Next, the connector device 10 having the above structure
The operation of 0 will be described. When the steering wheel 22 starts rotating counterclockwise from its neutral position, the winding member 1 rotates counterclockwise in response to the operation of the steering wheel 22, and the flat cable 7 is unwound from the winding member 1 and the cable It is wound around the winding core 6 via the passage 5 and stored in the second case 3. Then, when the steering wheel 22 is fully turned counterclockwise, it becomes as shown in FIG.

On the contrary, when the steering wheel 22 is started to be rotated clockwise from the state where the steering wheel 22 is fully rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 1A, the winding member 1 is rotated in accordance with the operation of the steering wheel 22. The flat cable 7 which has begun to rotate in the direction and is loosened around the winding core 6 of the second case 3 is drawn out through the cable passage 5 and is wound around the winding member 1 to be wound up in the first direction. It is stored in Case 2.

Here, by providing the wall 4 forming the cable passage 5, the wall 4 serves as a guide to the first case or the second case, and the space where the flat cable 7 can move is omitted. Allows the flat cable 7 between the winding member 1 and the winding core 6 to be
It suppresses the occurrence of buckling.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the winding member 1 is arranged such that the flat cable 7 wound around the winding member 1 is put into the tightened state, so that the flat cable 7 is pulled from the winding core 6 by the winding. With winding up
The flat cable 7 wound around the winding member 1 is put into a loosened state to wind the flat cable 7 around the winding core 6. Therefore, the joint portion between the winding member 1 and the flat cable 7 does not reverse even if the steering wheel 22 rotates left or right,
The flat cable 7 can be shortened and the device can be downsized without requiring a special inversion coupling structure.

Further, by providing the wall 4 which forms the cable passage 5, the wall 4 is provided in the first case or the second case.
By acting as a guide to the case and free space in which the flat cable 7 is movable, buckling of the flat cable 7 between the winding member 1 and the winding core 6 is suppressed.

This is because in the connector device 100 in which the flat cable 7 wound around the winding member 1 is put into the loosened state to wind the flat cable 7 around the winding core 6, the flat cable 7 is flat in the loosened state. Since the cable 7 is likely to be rolled up and buckled, it is necessary to prevent the buckling from occurring and to accurately take up the winding core 6 by providing the wall 4 to limit the movable range of the flat cable 7 as described above.
This is an effective means in that the flat cable 7 is wound around.

Further, the winding member 1, the winding core 6, and the flat cable 7 are always arranged in an S shape so that the winding member 1 and the winding core 6 reverse the rotation direction of the flat cable 7. By this, the winding member 1
And the central axis of the winding core 6 can be brought close to each other,
The flat cable 7 can be shortened to reduce the size of the connector device 100.

Next, another embodiment will be described. Figure 4
4A and 4B are configuration diagrams showing another embodiment, FIG. 4A is a horizontal sectional view of the connector device 110, and FIG. 4B is a vertical sectional view of the connector device 110. In addition, in the figure number of FIG.
As for the parts having the same numbers as the drawing numbers in FIG. 1, the parts equivalent to the drawing numbers in FIG. 1 are shown.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the central axes of the winding member 1 and the winding core 6 are arranged closer to each other than in the above-described embodiment, and the wall 12 is formed.
Serves as a cable guide between the first case 2 and the second case 3.

In this way, the first case 2 and the second case
Since the intermediate distance from the case 3 can be further reduced, the physique of the connector device 110 can be further reduced. Further, the flat cables 7 at the contacting or overlapping portions of the tubular shape of the first case 2 and the tubular shape of the second case 3 assist each other in winding and loosening, so that the whole is smooth. You can get a good rotation.

Here, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the connector device for connecting the airbag device and the collision detection device has been described. You may apply to the connector apparatus for connecting a horn switch and the speaker provided in the vehicle body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a connector device 100 according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the connector device 100 is mounted on a steering wheel of a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a flat cable 7.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the connector device 110 according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional connector device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Winding member 2 First case 3 Second case 4 Wall 5 Cable passage 6 Winding core 7 Flat cable

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A winding member, a first case that rotatably supports the winding member, a second case having a winding core, one end of the winding member, and the other end of the winding member. A flexible cable fixed to the winding core and wound around the winding core a plurality of times, wherein the winding member is the flexible cable wound around the winding member. By winding the flexible cable around the winding core by winding the flexible cable wound around the winding member by winding the cable into a tightened state, the winding is performed by loosening the flexible cable. A connector device in which the flexible cable is wound around a lead core. 2. The connector device according to claim 1, further comprising a cable passage formed by a wall between the winding member and the winding core.