JPH06243945A - Connector device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smooth rotary operation of a winding member by setting properly the number of turns of a flat cable wound round a winding core when the flat cable having a length equivalent to the necessary number of revolutions of the winding member is wound tightly. CONSTITUTION:Assuming that an outside diameter of a winding member 1 is (dr), and an outside diameter of a winding core 6 is (ds), and an overall length of a flat cable 7 is L, and a thickness of the flat cable 7 is (t), and the necessary number of turns to the winding member 1 necessary for both leftward and rightward rotations of steering is N, the number of turns of the winding core 6 when the flat cable is wound tightly by the necessary number of turns rotund the winding member 11, that is, the number of turns (n) of surplus winding 10 is calculated by the following numerical expression. (n)=[-ds+[ds<2>+4 t-{(L/pi)-N(dr+tN}]<1/2>/2t.

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 rotating body and a fixed end.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, 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). By adopting the above configuration, the flat cable 31 can be wound around the rotating body 34 regardless of whether the steering shaft rotates left or right.
The length of is shortened remarkably.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional one, the flat cable 3 is centered around the fixed end portion 32.
As shown in FIG. 9, the flat cable 31 may be wound around the fixed end portion 32 multiple times even if the steering wheel is fully turned counterclockwise even if it is wound multiple times. Is set to a length obtained by adding the number of turns required for both left and right rotations of the steering wheel to the number of turns of a so-called discard winding 31a with some margin.

However, the applicant of the present invention, after diligent research, found that if the number of turns of the waste winding 31a is inappropriate, when the steering wheel is rotated clockwise from the state shown in FIG. The flat cable 31 of a corresponding length cannot be completely wound around the fixed end 32, and
It has been found that there is a problem that the rotation operation of can not be performed smoothly.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when a flexible cable having a length corresponding to the required number of rotations of a rotating member is wound around the rotating member, it is wound around a fixed member. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector device capable of smoothly setting the number of turns of a turned flexible cable to smoothly rotate a rotating member.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, a flexible cable having one end fixed to a rotary member and the other end fixed to a fixed member is wound around the rotary member and the fixed member a plurality of times. In a connector device in which these are housed in a case, when a flexible cable having a length corresponding to a necessary rotation number N of the rotating member is wound around the rotating member, the flexible cable is wound around the fixing member. The number of turns of the flexible cable is at least the outer diameter dr of the rotating member and the outer diameter d of the fixing member.
s, the total length L of the flexible cable, the thickness t of the flexible cable, and the number of turns n obtained based on the required number of revolutions N, which is a connector device. Is.

[0007]

With the above structure, when a flexible cable having a length corresponding to the required number of rotations of the rotating member is wound around the rotating member, the number of windings of the flexible cable wound around the fixed member is At least, the outer diameter of the rotating member, the outer diameter of the fixed member, the total length of the flexible cable, the thickness of the flexible cable, and the number of turns determined based on the required number of rotations are set.

Therefore, the number of turns of the flexible cable wound around the fixing member, that is, the number of so-called discard winding is appropriately set. The flexible cable around the fixing member can be spread in the case according to the number of turns.

[0009]

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 vehicle-mounted power source.

1 and 2 are block diagrams showing an embodiment of a connector device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example in which the connector device is mounted on a steering wheel of a vehicle.
In FIG. 3, a steering shaft 20 housed in a housing 21 has a steering 22 attached to its end and a winding member 1 of the connector device 100 attached to the periphery thereof. When the steering 22 is operated, The winding member 1 attached 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.

A connector device 100 having a flat cable 7 corresponding to a flexible cable is provided with a second connection cable 9 for circuit connection and a second connection terminal, which is electrically connected to a vehicle-mounted power source (not shown). Connected. Then, the vehicle-mounted power source 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. 3, when a collision of a vehicle is detected, the collision signal generated in accordance with the collision detection is the second connection cable 9, the connector device 100, and the first connection cable 8.
Is supplied to the inflator 23 via. Then, the inflator 23 generates gas in response to the input of the collision signal,
The air bag 24, into which the gas has flown, 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. 1 shows a connector device 10
2 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state in which the flat cable 7 is completely wound in the counterclockwise direction at 0, and FIG.
FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state in which the flat cable 7 is completely wound in the clockwise direction at 00.

1 and 2, the connector device 1
Reference numeral 00 denotes a winding member 1 (corresponding to a rotating member) which is fixed to the steering shaft 20 and rotates with the operation of the steering wheel 22, and an inner circumference which is provided around the winding member 1 at a predetermined interval. The first case 2 having a smooth surface, the flat cable 7, the winding core 6 (corresponding to a fixing member) fitted or integrally formed with the second case 3 for winding the flat cable 7, A second case 3 having a smooth inner peripheral surface, which is provided around the winding core 6 at a predetermined interval, and both sides for connecting the cable outlets of the first case 2 and the second case 3 to each other. On the wall 4
And the cable passage 5 in which the
It consists of and.

As shown in FIG. 1, the winding core 6 has a diameter smaller than that of the winding member 1, and the winding core 6 has an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface of the second case 3. The spacing is relatively large so that the flat cable 7 wound a plurality of times around the winding core 6 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 It is made relatively small so as to be sent to the case 3 side.

As shown in FIG. 4, 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. The conductor 7a is not limited to two.

One end of the first connecting cable 8 is electrically connected and fixed to the first connecting terminal, the other end is connected to the winding member 1, and the one end of the second connecting cable 9 is connected to the second connecting 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 to rotate counterclockwise from its neutral position, the winding member 1 rotates counterclockwise in response to the operation of the steering wheel 22 and winds around the winding core 6 of the second case 3. The loosened flat cable 7 is pulled out, and the winding member 1
It is wound up and stored in the first case 2.

On the contrary, the steering wheel 22 as shown in FIG.
When the steering wheel 22 is started to be rotated clockwise from the state in which it is wound in a counterclockwise direction and is wound tightly, the winding member 1 starts to rotate in the clockwise direction in response to the operation of the steering wheel 22, and the flat cable 7 is connected to the winding member 1. Is loosened from the
It is wound around the winding core 6 via the cable passage 5 and stored in the second case 3.

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.

Next, the surplus portion of the flat cable 7, that is, the number of so-called discarded windings 10, which is a characteristic part of the present invention, will be described. In FIG. 1, the flat cable 7 wound around the winding member 1 that is a rotating body is wound around the winding core 6 that is a fixed end by feeding the flat cable 7 into the second case 3. The applicant of the present application, after earnest research, has found that the waste winding 10 of the flat cable 7 shown in FIG.
I found it.

Here, when the number of turns of the waste winding 10 is small in such a connector device 100, looseness of the waste winding 10 is reduced when the flat cable 7 is wound around the winding core 6, The flat cable 7 sent from the winding member 1 to the winding core 6 is not wound around the winding core 6 but is curved and spread in the direction away from the winding core 6 (in the second case 3). Become.

Then, the winding member 1 is moved to the steering 2
Before reaching the required number of rotations of 2, the flat cable 7 curved in the second case 3 comes into contact with the inner wall of the second case 3, so that the flat cable 7 is placed between the flat cable 7 and the inner wall of the second case 3. The generated frictional resistance prevents the flat cable 7 from being smoothly fed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the rotation angle of the winding member 1 is changed to the steering wheel 2.
As the required rotation speed of 2 is approached, the rotation torque of the winding member 1 to which the steering wheel 22 is attached increases.
There is a problem that the winding member 1 does not rotate smoothly.

In addition, when the flat cable 7 is wound around the winding core 6, the flat cable 7 needs to have elasticity in order to spread the waste winding 10 in the second case 3. . However, when the winding member 1 and the winding core 6 are repeatedly tightened and loosened at a high temperature, as shown in FIG.
The elastic force of the synthetic resin insulator 7b such as PET (PET; polyethylene terephthalate) and the adhesive that bonds the conductor 7a and the insulator 7b is reduced. Then, similarly to the above, the rotation torque of the winding member 1 to which the steering wheel 22 is attached increases,
There is a problem that the winding member 1 does not rotate smoothly.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method of appropriately setting the excess portion of the flat cable 7, that is, the so-called number of windings will be described below. Figure 8 (a)
Is a schematic view showing a state in which the flat cable 7 is completely wound around the winding member 1, and FIG. 8B is a state in which the flat cable 7 is completely unwound from the winding member 1. It is the schematic diagram which represented typically.

As shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b), the outer diameter of the winding member 1 is dr and the outer diameter of the winding core 6 is ds. The outer diameter of the flat cable 7 spreading around is Ds, the total length of the flat cable 7 is L, the thickness of the flat cable 7 is t, the width of the flat cable 7 is w, and a winding member required for both left and right rotations of the steering wheel 22. Number of turns required for 1 (Fig. 8 (a)
8) is N, and the number of windings of the winding core 6 in the state shown in FIG. 8A, that is, the number of waste windings 10 is n, the state shown in FIG. b)
In the state shown in, the following formula is established.

[0028]

## EQU1 ## Ltw = πw {(dr + 2Nt) ² -dr ² }
/ 4 + πw {(ds + 2nt) ² -ds ² } / 4

[0029]

[Number 2] ^{Ltw = πw {Ds 2 - (} Ds-2nt) 2} / 4 Therefore, according to Equation 1, discarding turn n is calculated by Equation 3 below.

[0030]

[Equation 3] Further, the outer diameter Ds of the flat cable 7 when it is completely unwound and spread around the winding core 6 is calculated by the following mathematical expression 4 by the mathematical expression 2.

[0031]

## EQU00004 ## Ds = (L / n.pi.) + Nt According to these equations 3 and 4, the number of turns n of the waste winding 10 and the outer diameter Ds of the flat cable 7 when completely wound and spread around the winding core 6 are obtained. Can be set appropriately. It should be noted that the discarded winding 1 calculated by Equation 3
The winding number n of 0 may be n or more, and further,
Depending on the size of the case 3, the number of turns may be slightly smaller than n, that is, n or more.

Here, as an example, dr = 61 mm, d
s = 18 mm, t = 0.3 mm (thickness generally used for the flat cable 7), N = 5 rotations (required rotation speed (±) commonly used for vehicle steering.
2.5 rotations)) and the total length L of the flat cable 7 is 2
Consider a connector device set to 000 mm.

When the respective parameters are as described above, the number of turns n of the discarded winding 10 is n≈14.5 according to the equation 3, and the flat cable 7 which is completely unwound and spread around the winding core 6. The outer diameter Ds of is calculated as Ds≈48 mm by the mathematical formula 4. Then, in the connector device in which the number of turns n of the waste winding 10 is appropriately set, as shown in FIG. 6, even when the rotation angle of the winding member 1 approaches the required rotation number of the steering wheel 22, the winding member 1 is rotated. The rotation torque of the winding member 1 does not change, and the rotating operation of the winding member 1 can be smoothly performed.

Here, the above-mentioned parameters are the parameters (dr = 60 mm, ds = 18 m) described as an example in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-198080 described in the prior art.
m, N = 5, Ds = 50 mm).

However, in spite of the fact that the parameters for determining the physique of the connector device as described above are almost the same, the number of turns n of the discarded winding 10 is 5 in the above publication, whereas in the present embodiment. 14.5 turns, the total length L of the flat cable 7 is 800 mm in the above-mentioned publication, whereas it is 2000 mm in this embodiment, which shows a considerable difference numerically. You can ask if you are not considering n.

Further, in this embodiment, the winding member 1 is rotated smoothly even at high temperature.
As a material for the insulator 7b that constitutes the flat cable 7, a film material (for example, PEN (PEN; polyethylene naphthalate), PPS (PPS; polyphenylene sulphite)) whose elastic force is less likely to decrease even at high temperatures is used. Selects a heat resistant adhesive. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, the rotation torque of the winding member 1 does not change even when the rotation angle of the winding member 1 approaches the required number of rotations of the steering wheel 22, and the rotation operation of the winding member 1 is smoothly performed. Can be done.

However, even if the material of the flat cable 7 is selected as described above, the effect may not be so great depending on the durability time. In order to perform smoothly, the value obtained by adding the number of turns n of the discarded winding 10 to the number of turns sufficient to compensate for the elastic force of the flat cable 7 lost due to heat and the endurance time, and the number of turns calculated by the above-mentioned mathematical expression 3 You can set it to.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, when the flat cable 7 is completely wound around the winding member 1, the number of turns n of the waste winding 10 which is the excess portion wound around the winding core 6 is set. , The outer diameter dr of the winding member 1, the outer diameter ds of the winding core 6, the total length L of the flat cable 7, the thickness t of the flat cable 7, and the left and right rotations of the steering wheel 22, as shown in Formula 3. Since it is calculated by the required number N of windings around the winding member 1, it is necessary to wind the flat cable 7 wound around the winding member 1 that is a rotating body around the winding core 6 that is a fixed end. It is possible to appropriately set the number of indispensable windings 10, which is indispensable, and to smoothly rotate the winding member 1.

In the above embodiment, the winding member 1
, The outer diameter ds of the winding core 6, the total length L of the flat cable 7, the thickness t of the flat cable 7, and the required number N of windings around the winding member 1 required for both left and right rotations of the steering wheel 22. After being determined, the number of turns n of the discarded winding 10 and the outer diameter D of the flat cable 7 when completely unwound and spread around the winding core 6 by the mathematical formulas 3 and 4
s was obtained, but the outer diameter Ds of the flat cable 7 and the total length of the flat cable 7 when the size of the second case 3 is set in advance and completely unwound and spread around the winding core 6 After setting L and the thickness t of the flat cable 7, the number n of the discarded windings 10 is calculated by the formula 4, and the outer diameter dr of the winding member 1 and the outer diameter ds of the winding core 6 are determined later. May be.

In the above embodiment, the winding member 1
An example in which the flat cable around the winding core 6 and the rotating direction of the flat cable are different from each other has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the rotating direction of the flat cable around the winding member 1 and the winding core 6 is different. The above-described one embodiment may be applied to the connector device 101 having the same. Even in such a case, the suitable number of turns n of the discarded winding 10a can be calculated based on Formulas 3 and 4. It is to be noted that, in the drawing numbers of FIG. 5, the parts having the same numbers as the drawing numbers of FIG. 1 are equivalent to the drawing numbers of FIG.

[0041]

As described above, in the present invention, when the rotating member is rotated, the waste winding is loosened, and the flexible cable around the fixing member is spread in the case according to the number of turns of the waste winding. As a result, the flexible cable having a length corresponding to the required number of rotations of the rotating member can be accurately wound around the fixed member, and the rotating operation of the rotating member can be smoothly performed. It has the excellent effect of being able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a state in which a flat cable is completely wound in a counterclockwise direction in a connector device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view showing a state in which the flat cable is completely wound and loosened clockwise in the connector device.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the connector device is mounted on a steering wheel of a vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a flat cable.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view showing another example of the connector device.

FIG. 6 is a rotation torque-rotation angle characteristic diagram showing a change in the rotation torque of the winding member for each number of turns of the flat cable discarded.

FIG. 7 is a rotation torque-rotation angle characteristic diagram showing changes in the rotation torque of the winding member for each material of the flat cable.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a state in which the flat cable is wound tightly and loosened.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a conventional connector device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Winding member 2 First case 3 Second case 6 Winding core 7 Flat cable 10 Discarded winding

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flexible cable having one end fixed to a rotating member and the other end fixed to a fixing member is wound around the rotating member and the fixing member a plurality of times, and these are housed in a case. In the connector device, when a flexible cable having a length corresponding to the required number of rotations N of the rotating member is wound around the rotating member, the number of turns of the flexible cable wound around the fixed member is At least, it was obtained based on the outer diameter dr of the rotating member, the outer diameter ds of the fixing member, the total length L of the flexible cable, the thickness t of the flexible cable, and the required rotation speed N. A connector device, wherein the number of turns is set to n. 2. When a flexible cable having a length corresponding to the required number of rotations N of the rotating member is wound around the rotating member,
The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the number of turns of the flexible cable wound around the fixing member is set to be in the vicinity of the number of turns n calculated by the following formula or more.